Firmin Desloge Hospital

Firmin Desloge Hospital 2015

Firmin Desloge Hospital is a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1933 by the Jesuits of Saint Louis University and the Sisters of Saint Mary. Named for the benefactor, Firmin V. Desloge, it was established to serve the poor and others in need.^[1] Desloge Hospital is located on Grand Avenue between Vista Avenue and Rutger Avenue.

History

In February 1930, St. Louis University received a $1 million bequest ($13 million in 2010 dollars) from the estate of Firmin Vincent Desloge,^[2] a member of the Desloge Family in America, who provided in his will, funds for a hospital to serve St. Louis University and to replace the old St. Mary’s Hospital, both in St. Louis.^[3] Another donation was received from the Desloge family of $100,000 ($1.3 million in 2010 dollars) from Mr. Desloge’s wife, Lydia Desloge (née Lydia Holden Davis) and was designated to build a chapel next to the hospital.^[4]

The building was designed in modified French Gothic style, rising 250 feet and topped by a Gothic roof of copper-covered lead. Construction began in the fall of 1930, with an estimated cost of $1.25 million.^[5] Archbishop John Glennon formally laid the cornerstone of the hospital on June 22, 1931, and the building was dedicated on November 3, 1933. At the ceremony, Desloge’s son Firmin (III) noted that the roof was covered by lead, the source of the family's fortune, and said, "That’s a good cap on things".^[6]

Operated under the auspices of the Sisters of St. Mary, the new hospital had 206 beds: two-thirds were double-occupancy rooms and the rest private rooms — a departure from the open wards of the day.^[1][7] In keeping with the Desloge family dedication to service and advancement, Firmin Desloge Hospital was also specifically for African Americans, and served as a nursing school for African American women.^[8]

The chapel, known as Desloge Chapel, has sculpture by John Angel.^[9]

In 1959, administration of Firmin Desloge Hospital shifted completely to Saint Louis University. At this time, Firmin Desloge Hospital, the Bordley Memorial Pavilion and the David P. Wohl Sr. Memorial Institute were collectively renamed Saint Louis University Hospitals.

Design

Firmin Desloge Hospital is the main hospital building of the St. Louis University Medical Center. Built in 1933 from plans by Study, Farrar and Majors, with Arthur Widmer, the structure rises ten stories above a high basement, and reflects the Modern Gothic Revival style. The basement and first two stories are covered with ashlar limestone, projecting out from the building at the center and end blocks. These projections display Gothic pointed-arched openings and flat, slender pilasters; the central projection has a monumental porch with compound arches. Above this three-story base, the building steps back, its five divisions composed of narrow piers with double hung windows and brick spandrels. The building is crowned by a steeply pitched hipped roof of copper, pierced with wall and roof dormers in a variety of configurations.^[10]

Desloge Chapel

Desloge Chapel at Desloge Hospital

Desloge Chapel was designed by the famous Gothic revivalist architect, Ralph Adams Cram, FAIA (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) who was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. The Desloge Chapel was designed to echo the contours of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, and in 1983, Desloge Chapel was declared a landmark by the Missouri Historical Society.^[11] The stained glass was created by Emil Frei, stained glass artisans since 1898. Emil Frei also design the stained glass windows for St. Francis Xavier (College) Church, also part of St. Louis University.^[12]

Modern era

In 1983, the fiftieth anniversary of the Firmin Desloge Hospital, the Desloge family gave money to illuminate the peaked copper roof.^[13]

Continuous growth and the need for modern facilities and equipment resulted in the construction of a new hospital facility as an addition to the original structure. This new part of the hospital was built directly behind the old Firmin Desloge Hospital at a cost of $39.1 million. The first patients moved in on January 30, 1988.

In 1998, Saint Louis University sold the Chapel, along with the Hospital, to Tenet Healthcare Corp., a for-profit chain based in Dallas.^[14]

In 2015, the university bought back the hospital, then gave it to SSM Health, "the Creve Coeur-based health care system sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, formerly Sisters of Saint Mary.^[14][15] The facility will become SSM St. Louis University Hospital.^[14][16]

The hospital tower continues to serve the hospital as physician offices and administrative space. The original copper-covered roof remains a St. Louis landmark and is a distinctive part of the City of St. Louis's skyline.

Future

As of October 2015, SSM Health was planning to spend $500 million to rebuild and expand the hospital. Various media reported that the options under consideration include demolishing the 1933 hospital tower; SSM officials say they have not ruled that out.^[17][18][19] Desloge scion Christopher Desloge has launched an effort to preserve the hospital building and chapel that his family helped build,^[20][21] perhaps by adaptive uses including, for example, a museum to the African American experience in healthcare and nursing in St. Louis.^[22]

The preservation of the hospital is supported by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects,^[23] the Les Amis historical organization,^[24] and the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, whose executive director said, “In the pantheon of St. Louis architecture and signature buildings, these are really way up there.”^[25] The executive director also asserted that the building would be "considered eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and classified as “High Merit” under the terms of the St. Louis City Preservation Ordinance (64689)".^[26]

References

External links

• Hospital Information Page
• Les Amis organization
• Landmarks Association of St. Louis

Coordinates: 38°37′22″N 90°14′18″W / 38.62290°N 90.23834°W / 38.62290; -90.23834