The Georgian – the Former St. Louis City Hospital – is Completed

It first opened its doors as a hospital in 1846. The landmark administration building was completed in 1912. The St. Louis City Hospital closed its doors in 1987 after some 140 years of service to the St. Louis community. The building sits on the corner of 14th and Lafayette Avenues in the historic old Lafayette Square neighborhood, just south of downtown. We have some history together, the City Hospital building and I, for I was born at the hospital and grew up a couple of blocks from the building.

Back in the day, City Hospital was one of two “public” hospitals in the city of St. Louis. City served the south side, predominately white, while Homer G. Phillips Hospital served the north side of the city, which was predominately black. Depending on where you lived, you went to one of those hospitals if you were poor or lacked insurance. Homer G. Phillips Hospital was closed in 1979 amidst great racial controversy that the city was leaving its northern residents without adequate medical care.

The City Hospital was an imposing structure, built in the Georgian Revival Style, complete with entablatures, pilasters, and a towering cupola on the roof. Its appearance would easily strike fear into the heart of any sick child waiting for hours in one of its gloomy corridors to see a doctor, as it did for me many times. After it closed in 1987, the building stood empty for almost 20 years. It was occupied during that time by a few homeless people, but mostly by pigeons. I have a friend who used to travel around the country while she was in college taking pictures of abandoned buildings. The closed City Hospital, with its long spooky corridors and skeletons of old medical equipment strewn about was one of her favorites. A local underground radio DJ even offered unofficial “tours” of the building. The only problem was that you had to break in, and that made the tours slightly illegal and they were soon shut down.

Today, the hospital is in the first phase of being developed into a $50 million plus project that will eventually include more than 150 condominiums, retail, office, and restaurant space. The refurbished building is being called “The Georgian” in honor of its architectural origins. The first phase has been completed and about half of the phase has been sold. A fully furnished condominium representative of the over 14 floor plans available is now open and ready to view.

The condos feature 14-foot high ceilings, 11-foot windows, and hardwood floors, as well as Shaker cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and granite countertops. Many of the units have semi-private terraces that offer a spectacular view of the city and downtown skyline.

One-bedroom units are priced between the $140s and the $160s. Two-bedroom units run in the $170s to the low $300s. As a special incentive, a $10,000 prepaid Visa card will be given to the buyer of every unit through November 19th. You can get more information by logging in to www.thegeorgiancondominiums.com.

I wonder who will be occupying the space where the old nursery once was?