The Newark Presbyterian/United Hospital

The story of the old hospital in Newark's Central Ward goes back to 1910. At the time of its creation, the Newark Presbetyrian Hospital was operating out of an old mansion. By the end of the next decade, the hospital owned several more houses down S. 9th Street. As the city continued to grow, however, the hospital needed more space. in 1929, a large new six story building was constructed. Sitting on a nearly 8 acre parcel of land. The hospital towered over the central ward.

In 1958, the United Hospital Network formed. It consisted of the Presbyterian Hospital, the nearby "Babies Hospital", the Newark Ear & Eye Hospital, and the Newark Home for Crippled Children. Over the years, the Presbyterian Hospital would provide care for the citizens of the central ward. However, the hospital faced severe turmoil during the Newark riots of 1967. An article in the New York Times reported that the hospital itself came under sniper fire, and several of the surrounding homes were torched. While responding to an alarm in the vicinity of the hospital, Captain Michael Moran was shot off of the ladder he was on. This was truly the worst time in the history of the city. While Newark rebuilt, so did the hospital. The "North Tower" Was constructed increasing capacity to 449 beds.

The downfall of the hospital began just a few decades later in. 1989. The President of the United Hospital network was accused of stealing millions of dollars from the hospital, and subsequently resigned. Two trustees struggled against each other to fill  the position, which grew into a series of legal battles leaving the hospital scrambling for funding. By 1991, the former President was convicted of several felonies. The same year, the replacement president was fired for not moving quicky enough to correct the damage done by the previous administration. Four years later, the United Hospital Network entered a partnership with the Barnabas Health Network, and the Networls name changed to "United Healthcare System". Unfortunealty this only lasted a brief time, and the hospital was shuttered to years later. Nothing that the administration tried could fix what had been done. Not only did the neighborhood lose across to local medical services, the closing also affected hundreds of employees, who all lost their jobs. This was a contributing factor to the the further decline of the neighborhood.

After the closure of the hospital, the property was purchased by "New United" for $725,000.
Headed by Clyde Pemberton, the group had plans to renovate it, but keep it open as a medical campus. In 1999 Essex County purchased the "North Tower" for $6.5 million (Nearly $5.75 million more than Pemberton bought the entire property for), with the intention of moving operations from the Overbrook Psychiatric Hospital there. Despite supporting the plan while in office as a freeholder, Joe Divencenzo changed the county's plan to move Overbrook operations to United site in 2002. The county then planned to move some of their offices into the building, but Mr. Pemberton included a clause in the purchase that the building could only be used for medical purposes. He felt strongly that the area needed a hospital, not more offices. Essex County then intentionally neglected their portion of the building in order to ensure they would be able to take the rest of the property through a condemnation clause.

Then, in 2010, the deed was seized by the county without any warning given to the owners of the property. Plans were announced that the building was going to be razed entirely. After hearing Mr. Pemberton's attorney explain the situation, the court ordered Essex County to do $200,000 worth of repair work to their portion of the deteriorated hospital. Joe D. refused, saying "Why should I put money in a building that is going to be demolished". Two years later, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that the county misused their authority to blindside the owner and seize the property. Despite this, the county retained ownership of  the hospital. At this point, the Essex County was using inmates from a nearby CEC detention facility to clean up the neglected grounds. One day in 2014, a security gaurd at the United site was assaulted by a man stealing scrap metal. This was the final straw, and official plans were announced that the hospital was to be raised to make way for a new VoTech building. Remediation work began at the end of Spring, 2015. On May 6th, one of the managers was knocked down an elevator shaft after cutting the wrong cord on the machine when preparing the structure for demolition. By November of that year, the entire property was completely empty.

The United Hospital story is laced with corruption and political bullying, so its not a suprise Mr. Divencenzo wanted the buildings gone. These buildings are just more examples of Essex County's blatant and systematic disregard for the historic properties they have been entrusted with. Soon, Essex County will stop obbliterating their history. But that will only be because there is none left to save.

The Newcomb Hospital

The story of the Newcomb hospital goes back to the early 1920's. Leverett Newcomb, a prominent attorney from the city, donated six and a half acres of land and $225,000 to erect a new hospital.

Old postcared of the Newcomb Hospital

He wanted his hospital to be the cutting edge of modern medicine. Constructed in 1924 with its own power station and x ray machine, the new hospital was certainly living up to expectations. Mr. Newcomb only wanted two things in return for his generous donation. He wanted the hospital to be named for him, unlike all the other regional hospitals named by the towns they were constructed in. His second request was that he be buried on the hospital's property.

Mr. Newcomb died on September 16th, 1926, and as per his request he was buried underneath a beech tree in the parking lot of the hospital. Though the hospital would go on to change significantly over the years, he would remain buried in this same spot.

In the summer of 1959, a new wing was added to the right of the small three story original building. This was only the beginning of the hospitals expansion however.

By 1967, a five story addition was built onto the addition from the decade prior. The building was also expanded on the first floor all the way back to the power plant behind the original structure. The new expansion would take months to complete.

Over the years the Newcomb hospital maintained the purpose with which it was built, becoming one f the largest healthcare providers for all of Cumberland County. At its peak, the hospital had 235 beds spread out through 300,000 square feet of building space. The hospital had come a long way from when it was just a small three story building.

Unfortuneately over the years, the original hospital building was heavily updated. The only room to survive over those 80 years of countless renovations was the rotunda. A large round room with a compass rose style terrazzo floor and decorative marble pillars all the way around the perimeter.

Despite all of the growth over the years, the hospital began to lose many of their patients to the other, more modern facilities in other parts of Vineland. It was sold to the South Jersey Healthcare Group, who went on to close the facility in 2004.

Over the next four years, the hospital fell into disrepair. In 2008, the hospital was sold to the Danza group. The group received a six million dollar urban enterprise zone loan in order to jump start development on the blighted property.

The hospital appeared to have caught a break in 2012, when the UMDNJ had an interest in taking over the structure and operating it as a teaching hospital. However, Governor Christie's budget cuts stripped out the university and left it unable to expand as it planned. The Danza group resorted to trying to track down other buyers, but was left sitting on the property for several more years.

Finally in 2015, The Danza Affiliate organization for the hospital announced plans to chop up the property and build mostly assisted living units on the site of the hospital. However, the proposal also called for 11,000 square feet of existing Newcomb hospital building space to be renovated and reincorporated back into the new plans for the property. Included in these plans are at least a portion of the original facade, which is a relief for preservationists after a huge wave of demolition in 2015 saw the demise of seven different disused hospitals across the state.

In December of 2015, a news article ran about the hospital, stating that demolition was scheduled to begin in February of the following year. Developers said that the facility was too heavily vandalized and decayed to save, which was not far from the truth. Over a decade of neglect left the developers with no other realistic option. With only one room original to the construction of the building, it wasn't very hard for me to find myself agreeing. While the hospital served a noble purpose, it now only stands a a testament to the failure of both the he healthcare and historic preservation systems in place of this country. Nobody wants a constant reminder of their failures shoved into their face every day.

Irvington General Hospital

Situated on a small hill along Chancellor avenue in Irvington, the Irvington General hospital was first built on the former Glorieux farm in March of 1924. At the time it was just one small three story Tudor building.

Siegel, Alan A. Irvington. Dover, NH: Arcadia Pub., 1997. Print.

Over the years the small community hospital saw a decent amount of growth, as the small township of Irvington became more and more populated. In the 1950's the Garden State Parkway project began right at the edge of the hospital property.

Before long, dormitories for the staff were built on the southernmost portion of the property. As Irvington and Newark grew, so did the hospital building. Between 1966 and 1969, a large L shaped addition was built to the back and left side of the original structure. This new addition was built right up to the dormitory building, and in 1969 the dorm was demolished. The building would once again be added to in 1987, when a new emergency room was built on the side of the property that runs along Krotik Place.

The hospital was owned by Irvington until 1994, when it was bought out by the nearby Beth Israel hospital in Newark. In 1996, the hospital became one of eight acute care hospitals in the Barnabas Health Network, which was the largest healthcare provider in the state at the time.

Despite it's role in the Barnabas health network, the hospital saw a severe decline in admissions. In 2004, a section of the building was renovated and became a "community health center". Essentially it was a place for underprivileged and uninsured people to get cheap, quality hospital care. A $400,000 grant from the state helped fund the new program. The hospital was mainly open as a psychiatric hospital at the time it was closed by St. Barnabas in 2006.

Many Irvington residents, including the local head of the NAACP at the time Kathleen Witcher, sincerely opposed the closure of the hospital. She felt that the only way the site would be of any use to the residents of the township would be as a hospital. She also felt that initial  plans weren't adequately discussed with the residents of the township, nor was the  initial offer of $3 million enough for the property.

The town of Irvington tried to keep the hospital open after the property was given back to them when it was closed by St. Barnabas, but they didn't have anywhere near the budget to make that happen. It wasn't long before the six acre site was overgrown and falling into serious disrepair. Several offers were proposed to develop the site over the years, but none of them were ever accepted by the town. The proximity of the parkway meant that any development had to be the right one. During this time, the small 160 bed hospital fell into serious disrepair. Scrappers had made their way in and took everything of value. Taggers made their way around the property, leaving colorful scars all over the outside of the building. Thankfully, only a few of them actually made it inside.

Finally in 2013, a development group came forward with a plan to demolish the hospital and build several residential towers on the site.

The 200 million dollar plan was met with overwhelming support from the community. Many of the people interviewed by the local press were thrilled to finally see something come of the site, which had been derelict for nearly a decade. Despite a 30 year tax abatement program offered to the Hilltop development group for the project, it is expected to be the anchor of an Irvington renaissance. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Hilltop development was held on May 18th, 2015. The hospital was supposed to be demolished that same week, but it didn't happen right away. Instead, demolition started in December of 2015.

I was driving up the parkway one day, and noticed a huge gaping hole in the back of the building. The scrap metal was being ripped out of the building and the hazardous materials were abated. Shortly after seeing this I went by the building to get a better look. Sure enough, the building was slowly being picked away at.

Usually, you will hear me arguing against demolition of any historic structure. Especially one that served a community as Irvington General has. Many generations of the towns citizens were born there. Thousands and thousands of people pass by it everyday, hard to make the claim that it is not a landmark. As a matter of fact, I was actually a patient there myself as a child. I had a serious reaction to an unknown insect bite, and it was thought that the doctors here may have a wider range of experience with different bites that you wouldn't usually find in Livingston where I usually went. However, you will not hear me opposing this course of action for the Irvington General site. Heavy modernizing has left the old building with almost no real architectural significance. It would also cost an unrealistic amount to fix all the damage a decade of neglect has caused. But most of all, Irvington needs this. With so much blight and violence prevalent throughout the town, moving forward needs to mean moving away from much of it's scarred past. I sincerely hope to see the renaissance come through, so that a few of the towns other architectural treasures don't fall into the same sort of disrepair Irvington General has.

The Old Jersey City Medical Center

Jersey City has seen a boom of development over the past two decades. Several monolithic modern towers have been constructed in this time. But did you ever notice the the modest cluster of Art Deco high rises protruding out of the Bergen Hill neighborhood? Driving by now, one would see that it is the Beacon condominium complex. This wasn't always the case however. This group of buildings was originally the Jersey City Medical Center.

It all began in 1885, when the "City Hospital" (former Charity Hospital) of Jersey City moved operations from a dirty old hospital in the Paulus Hook area to it's new location on Baldwin Avenue.

The new hospital would quickly become obsolete though, and in 1909 a new three story castle- like building was completed. At this time there were also several houses on the property, which functioned as temporary hospitals until the new buildings were finished. Once the hospital began to flourish, several more buildings were added. Some of the new buildings were a chapel, a dormitory for the staff, and a morgue. A new house for the hospital administrator was also constructed around 1909.

As Jersey City began to grow, so did the hospital. In 1917, several new buildings were added to the property. One such building included a small power station, which allowed the hospital to generate it's own power. Around this time the original hospital building more than doubled in size as well, as a twin building was built behind it and another floor was added. Two brand new surgical suites were included in the new floor.

Just a year later, construction started on what would be the A. Harry Moore school for crippled children. The Moore school was among the the first in the country specifically focusing on educating children with disabilities. Though the building was originally going to be built at the hospital, a flawed beginning design left the structure of no use for the school. Instead, the school would be built on Kennedy Boulevard. The space originally intended for the school would go on to become the Dr. B. S. Pollak Hospital for Chest Diseases.

The new growth made the hospital really begin to gain a good reputation. This was nothing, however, compared to the expansion it would see in the next few decades.

In 1928, under the direction of mayor Frank Hague, the hospital would begin to see some major expansion. Haugue's vision was to be able to provide free, quality healthcare to residents of the city. The first new building of the complex was the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital.

Named after mayor Frank Hague's late mother, The new ten story maternity hospital would go on to be one of the most well known buildings in all of Jersey City. An estimated 350,000 babies were born here. Speaking to neighbors and others who grew up in the city, more often than not folks were telling me "Sure, that's where I was born!"

Designed by one of the mayor's favorite city architects, Christian Ziegler, the maternity hospital was initially proposed years before the expansion of the medical center. The infant mortality rate in the county peaked in 1923, with roughly one in five births ending with the newborn dead. Numbers didn't fare much better for the mothers, who were also frequently dying in childbirth.

It didn't take long before the hospital built up a positive reputation. Despite having enough space and resources to comfortably attend to roughly 400 mothers, the hospital was quickly reducing the mortality rate for the city. Wards were open late for working fathers to be able to visit their newborn children after getting out of work.

A year after construction started on the maternity hospital, a new surgical building was built directly behind the building from 1909. The imposing 22 story structure was one of the tallest in the city at the time. The new building would be dubbed "Holloway Hall",

Also added in 1929 was a 17 story nurses home, directly adjacent to the power plant. This building was named "Fairbank Hall".

Part of the expansion of the hospital included adding more towers for staff housing, infectious diseases, and other various necessities of the now enormous hospital. This expansion included demolition of some of the buildings built on the property between 1907 and 1917. Two architects would work together to build the hospital up piece by piece. Overseeing the whole project was John T. Rowland, who designed several of Jersey City's more prestigious and well known buildings. Despite the various architects, all the buildings were designed in the same Art Deco fashion. It is by far the largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the state, if not the country.

In 1934, construction was started on several new towers. One of which was the Dr. B.S. Pollak Hospital for Chest Diseases. Towering over the complex at 22 stories, the hospital was named for one of the most prominent doctors in the field at the time. Though part of the city medical center, it was operated by Hudson County as their sanatorium during the outbreak of the early mid 1900's. It was the tallest building in Jersey City for over 50 years until the new commercial towers started going up downtown.

One of the other towers built at this time, the "B" building, would house the new main entrance to the complex. The two story lobby was clad in pink marble, with tracery on the ceiling and a decorative terrazzo floor. These buildings were the first to be renovated during the large scale conversion into condominiums in 2007.

A new clinic building was also added to the medical center in 1934, and it was almost a twin of the "C" building it stood behind. Over the years it provided mostly outpatient services.

On October 2nd, 1936, the complex was officially dedicated by then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. By this time, the medical center had grown into a towering complex akin to a city of it's own.

Around 1938, the complex would see construction start on even more towering Art Deco buildings. It was at this time that the 14 story Isolation building was built. It was referred to as "Al Blazi's Hall". At some point in it's history it stopped being used as an isolation ward and became the staff headquarters.

By 1941, construction on campus was completed. With two million square feet of building space, the medical center was unlike any other in the world. Though most of the complex was already completed by the mid 1930's, several more improvements were made to the buildings in this time. The last building built on campus in 1941 was a nurses residence named Murdoch Hall. With it's marble clad lobby, hardwood paneled office for Mayor Hague, and beautiful Art Deco movie theater, Murdoch Hall is one of the greatest buildings in Jersey City. In 1966, the building was also used by Hudson County Human Services. After the hospital closed, the building would continue to slowly rot away until 1995, when the Robert Redford movie "Quiz Show" was filmed in the tower. The film crew put a lot of time and effort into fixing up the building, as the rest of the campus continued to decline.

While on campus designing Murdoch, Christian Ziegler also designed a pair of 17 story towers that were added to the rear of the Maternity ward he originally created. Though sitting on only fourteen acres, the new medical center was the largest health care facility in the world.

As was the case with many hospitals in the late 1900's Jersey City Medical Center was overcrowded and underfunded. In 1979 the maternity ward on campus closed, and was converted into office space. However, this marked the beginning of the end for the campus. Less than a decade later, the Jersey City Medical Center went bankrupt and vacated the facility in 1988

Years of neglect left the campus as a complete eyesore for the city. Since the medical center could be seen for miles and miles, thousands of people looked at the decrepit complex day after day. The complex would serve as shelter for drug users and vagrants for nearly two decades, before a developer purchased the hospital with plans to renovate the whole complex.

Thankfully in 2007, work began on the largest restoration project in NJ history. Under the direction of Manhattan based reality group Metrowest, workers began renovating two of the staff buildings on the medical center property, built at the same time as the B.S. Pollak tower. By 2009 they were completely reborn as 315 condominium units. These buildings were renamed the "Capital" and "Rialto", after famous New York City Theaters. Nearly $135 million dollars went into renovation of the two towers.

However, things came crashing to a stop in 2010, midway through the renovation of the Murdoch building. The economic downturn left many of the already renovated units empty. The owner at the time, George Filopoulos, sold off most of the still-deteriorated hospital to a Connecticut based firm for $47 million.

Work began again almost immediately in the Murdoch building, which was the third to be renovated. It was dubbed the "Paramount" building, keeping with the trend of renaming the buildings after famous New York City theaters.

By 2015, work had mostly wrapped up on the last few blighted hospital buildings. Fairbank Hall, the Pollak hospital and the Margaret Hague Maternity ward were the last towers on campus to be renovated.

The Jersey City Medical Center is an amazing example of both Art Deco architecture and historic preservation. What could have ended with a series of controlled implosions instead became one of the greatest examples of adaptive reuse in the history of the United States. As a result, it can now be used in future arguments towards saving our historic buildings. If this two million square foot complex of towers can be brought back after two decades of disuse, almost anything can.