Calgary General Hospital
The Calgary General Hospital had four manifestations:
#1: 7th St & 9th Ave SW - opened in October 1890 ; 2 floor house https://postmediacalgaryherald2.file...ca-1890-mb.jpg CREDIT - AHS #2: 6th St & 12th Ave SE - opened in 1895; 35-bed sandstone hospital https://postmediacalgaryherald2.file...ec-calgary.jpg CREDIT - AHS #3: 841 Centre Ave NE - opened in 1910 ; 4 floor 160 beds sandstone hospital https://postmediacalgaryherald2.file...al-1926-mb.jpg CREDIT - AHS #4: Replaced #3 at 841 Centre Ave NE ; original phased opened 1953 with several subsequent additions ; closed in 1997 due to provincial government funding cuts ; demolished in 1998 https://postmediacalgaryherald2.file...ne-four-bp.jpg CREDIT - AHS 1998 destruction following closure of the 1953 hospital in 1997 |
Alright, I was very curious about this. My assumption was that everything earlier was demolished in the 1950s, but it appears the original laundry building might have survived.
I've put a red dot on it in each image 1911 https://i.imgur.com/4xPdtJ5.png 1948 https://i.imgur.com/gyIRAjM.png 1979 https://i.imgur.com/RpqyCLQ.png 1995 https://i.imgur.com/gpsqnem.png Anyway, that would just be a point of further investigation, it doesn't prove anything. |
Also, the 2nd iteration of the hospital that Suburbia posted "#2: 6th St & 12th Ave SE - opened in 1895; 35-bed sandstone hospital" is the source of what is known today as the Rundle Ruins.
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Anyway, my point about the structures at the point they were demolished was that man they would have made an awesome re-purposed neighborhood. Leaving aside the healthcare cuts that shut it down in 1997, I don't think these buildings would have been leveled now as they were in 1998. There was a massive amount of space for adding commercial, particularly on the north side where the large parking lot was. The hospital structures were actually several buildings, and so it would not have been a monotonous condo structure, but a real variety of spaces. Those end buildings with curved walls, for example, would have been amazing for higher end units. The interstitial spaces being significant in hospitals would have allowed rather high ceiling spaces. Heck, they even had an existing helipad that could have been kept for the high rollers (not sure if that would make sense or not, but just pointing it out). |
Someone who actually experienced the General in person rather than through the perspective of activist groups like Friends of Medicare, would not miss any aspect of its sorry existence. It was a series of poorly constructed, dark and dreary institutional buildings with low ceilings, poor HVAC and issues with mould and asbestos. It had mostly ward rooms and insufficient day patient facilities. The expanse of surrounding parking lots turned the immediate area into a wasteland. The Lougheed government more or less set the General on course for the wrecking ball when it built the PLC in the NE and expanded the Rockyview Hospital in the SW. Healthcare facilities were so over built that portions of the PLC and Rockyview didn't open until after the General closed. It was a no brainer decision to invest in modern facilities and repurpose the site of the General. Hopefully the former Holy Cross Hospital site will eventually redevelop as well. While not as dumpy as the General, it's facilities were also completely obsolete.
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There was a rumour going around that the Conservatives wanted the General erased from history because the original was funded by an immigrant. Is it true that an immigrant underwrote the original 1890 structure? Quote:
https://i.imgur.com/bTTHrmL.png |
Not to sideline the topic of this thread, but how much of the Holy Cross is still open and useable for health services versus closed and/or unused space?
Incedentally, what happens to paper patient records that were at a now closed hospital? I was born at the Holy Cross and wonder whatever would have happened to my (or my mother’s) file. |
Very true. The old General Hospital was a piece of garbage building that needed to go. That and it hasn't been missed at all, shows it was a good move.
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Regarding records, I'd think they'd still be in archives somewhere or other - but don't know specifics. |
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https://i.imgur.com/oeiqLAs.jpg |
It was totally the right move.
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But at the end of the day, my question was most about heritage buildings and how much we protect them (or not). |
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