St.John's (Newfoundland) is in danger of losing a couple of landmark buildings, the Grace Hospital, and neighboring nurses residence, both eight storey structures built in the mid 1960's, which were closed in 2000 under a hospital consolidation policy, and have been unused ever since.The original & historic parts of the hospital, built in 1926 and later, were demolished in 2006. Although they may not be significant in terms of architecture, they do represent a mid-century building form that is rare in the city. I call them landmarks because of their visibility, being just west of downtown at the top of the hill; they are a prominent part of the skyline in most views of the city. Some groups have been formed to conserve these buildings, hoping for conversion to a seniors residence, as there is considerable nostalgic attachment to the Grace. The government has been interested in having them reused as well. As there is now a movement toward preserving the modern, I would hope that these buildings would be conserved, updated, expanded, and put to some good use, otherwise it will likely end up as lost history. Although this is one of the few sites in the city where hi-rise development would be permitted, if demolished, they would most likely be replaced by a strip plaza or a fake-heritage style lowrise. As of now, I haven't heard any further news about these buildings.
I did some recent pictures of the buildings and site, but it was a bit late in the evening:
Pictures from before the demolition of the old parts of the hospital:
There is a great panoramic view from the site:
Footnote: The oldest remaining hospital building in St.John's dating from around 1850, part of the old General in the East end near Quidi Vidi Lake is being restored as part of a luxury heritage style condo/townhouse development.
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