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Published in the St. Louis City Hospital Newsletter, publication of the St. Louis City Hospital Alumni Association, May 2005. The City Hospital site has appeared to be rather stagnant lately. Little visible construction activity has occurred since the opening of the display condominium units in October 2004. It seems that the hospital is still waiting for a grand re-opening and a certain future, although there is little danger that the renovation won't succeed. Renovation continues, slowly One of the principals of Gilded Age Restoration, which owns City Hospital now, told me at the October ribbon-cutting at City Hospital that he needed to sell 30 condominium units to finance a full, fast-paced renovation of the Administration and Ward buildings on Lafayette. He had estimated selling 30 units by February, but apparently it took a bit longer than that. Full renovation has yet to begin, although bidding has begun. Gilded Age also resumed full clean-up of the Power Plant and Laundry buildings, work that was previously unfinished. The current plans call for renovation of the Commissioners, Clinic and Kitchen and Services to commence next. These buildings may reopen by the end of 2007. Renovation of the Power Plant and Laundry buildings, along with infill construction on the Malcolm Bliss and Tower building sites, may be completed by 2008 or 2009. The timetable depends on the success of the first phase of renovation, which will lead to faster financing for the project. Cutting corners? There are some signs that Gilded Age may be cutting corners with its restoration. A roofing contractor invited to bid on rebuilding the roof and its structures refused to submit a bid when he saw the materials that the Lawrence Group, project architect, had specified. Apparently the specifications for the new roof, cupola and dormer re-cladding and guttering system calls for inexpensive plastic materials and not so much as a scrap of the originally copper. Copper is very expensive, of course, but metal alloys exist that give the copper appearance and last more than the 30-year lifespan of plastic. Let's hope that Gilded Age doesn't cut many corners on the renovation. We have waited too long to be disappointed. Part of "E" Building saved The saddest corner to be cut was the demolition in October 2002 of the "E" Building, the oldest building at City Hospital. The "E" Building dated from 1905. Gilded Age found bad problems in the building's concrete floor plates – they were too brittle to save. Unfortunately, the costs to reconstruct the building were beyond the grasp of Gilded Age, so they demolished the "E" Building. Luckily, last summer, my partner Claire Nowak-Boyd and I uncovered an intact terra cotta cornice piece from the "E" Building in a pile of debris near City Hospital. I wonder why it was still on the site two years after demolition. We cleaned the piece and donated it to the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation, which is constructing an architectural museum on the East St. Louis riverfront directly across from the Gateway Arch. Website seeking submissions Along with Claire Nowak-Boyd, I maintain a website on City Hospital, St. Louis City Hospital: A History, located at www.stlouiscityhospital.org. The website presents historic documents, photographs of the hospital from 1845 to the present and much more. One of the most important challenges facing the website at present is obtaining stories and photos from the hospital's staff. We want to preserve the human history of the place along with the remaining buildings. To that end, we are asking for the submission of any stories, photos, or other memorabilia that we could display online. We are also interested in conducting interviews if possible. Please contact us with submissions or questions:
Michael Allen & Claire Nowak-Boyd
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