St Michaels Hospital

The story of St Michael's Medical Center is one of the longest of all the Newark care facilities, going all the way back to 1868. At the time a rented space on Bleecker Street was being used for a hospital.  Land was purchased and a small, simple building with a chapel on Central Avenue was erected and opened in 1871.

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There was also a home on the property which was used as a temporary hospital, which is a common theme with most of the general hospitals in the region. Rumors say one of the first times Black and White folks ever marched together was during a dedication ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone for the building.

The Franciscan order who commissioned the hospital had the idea that the city would help sustain the facility. At the time the city of Newark desperately needed medical care facilities. Unfortunately the city had no interest in taking on any expense. After they decided not to be involved, local Catholics were asked to donate money to help keep the hospital operating and expanding. Donors were promised a bed in the hospital if ever necessary. The hospital advertised "130 beds open to all, without distinction of race or color" in the 1874 Newark City Directory. The need for more hospital space was increasing, so the hospital underwent a large expansion project in 1888. Renowned local architect Jeremiah O'Rourke was tasked with designing the new wing, as he was the chief architect for the Archdioece of Newark at the time. O'Rourke is better known for designing the Basillica of the Sacred Heart, but he can also be found on this blog for his work on Jersey City's St Lucy's Church.

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The new building absorbed the original structure somewhat seamlessly. Pressed tin was thrown up throughout the halls. This covered the original skylights that once lit the halls of the structure. An emergency exit was added onto the right side of the original building, capped with a peak giving the impression of a tower. Most importantly, a large chapel was incorporated into the new design. The space featured a vaulted ceiling with tight ribbing and plaster ornamentation.

The corners of the ribs were decorated with colorful stenciling. The relatively small room had the grandeur of a much larger worship space, a true testament to the skill of Jeremiah O'Rourke.

In addition to being beautiful the hospital was also developing quite a reputation by the turn of the century. The hospital claims to be the site of the first open heart surgery in the state. They also take credit for instituting the first cardiac catheter program.

The hospital wouldn't continue to grow so handsomely, however. Over the years the hospital became a mash up of different architectural styles. The mansard roof over the original structure was removed, and an extra floor was added to the structure. An art deco wing was added to the left of the O'Rourke building at some point in the 30's or 40's. By 1960 modern buildings were popping up on the property, drawing away from the beauty of the O'Rourke building. After the rebellion of 1968 property values in Newark dropped significantly, and the hospital capitalized on this by purchasing a large portion of property on the block behind the complex. Many homes were demolished, and In 1969 the most disruptive construction to date began.

A large new white building sprouted up behind the original buildings. The hospital now resembled a short T. By this point it was impossible to tell that the property used to be 2 separate blocks. A few decades later the most modern section of the hospital was built. It was around this time that hospital operations moved out of the oldest buildings on the property. The hospital chapel was deconsecrated, and the buildings were left to rot. The hospital slowly began to decline, and was shuffled around quite a bit. In 2008 Cathedral Health Services sold the building to Catholic Health East. Two years later plans were unveiled to transform the campus with a massive redevelopment, but those plans never came to fruition.

I first tried to get inside the hospital as a teenager back in 2012. I ducked into the basement with the hope that I could find a stairwell that would bring me into the now abandoned portion. My goals were dashed as a large security guard caught me almost immediately and escorted me out of the hospital. I was disappointed, but at the time the interior of the hospital was sheathed in drywall and drop ceiling so I didn't think I was missing much. I nearly forgot about the hospital until they announced that they were filing for bankruptcy protection. The hospital was then sold to Prime Healthcare, who took control of the hospital in 2016.

I tried several more times to get inside during and after the sale, finally finding a way inside shortly after the complex changed hands. I was pleased to find that the inside had been partially gutted. The ugly modernization work had been stripped away, revealing the expert craftmanship of the 1800s carpenters. The buildings had tall pressed tin ceilings and lancet doorways.

I spent the next several years visiting the hospital regularly with friends. Very few people had discovered the entrance, so my friends and I mostly had the place to ourselves. Unfortunately by late 2017 the hospital fell victim to Instagram popularity. The urban tourist crowd came through and began to destroy the building. Thankfully it didn't last too long, as redevelopment plans were approved the following year. By 2019 renovation was in full swing, and the former hospital was well on it's way to a mixed use conversion. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2020.