Saint Andrews Hospital, 706 5th Street Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Saint Andrew's Hospital | |
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| Address: | 708 5th Street SE |
| Neighborhood/s: | Northeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| City/locality- State/province |
Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| County- State/province: |
Hennepin County, Minnesota |
| State/province: | Minnesota |
| Country: | United States |
| Year built: | 1926 |
| Primary Style: | Renaissance Revival |
| Additions: | This building was an addition to original hospital |
| Major Alterations: | Significant Alterations |
| Historic Function: | Hospital |
| Historic Function: | Family home, nurse's school and residence, student residence |
| Other Historic Function: | Family home, nurse's school and residence, student residence |
| Current Function: | Apartments/condominiums |
| Architect or source of design: | Sund and Dunham |
| Builder: | Field-Martin Company |
| Material of Exterior Wall Covering: | Brick |
| Building Permit Number: | B202148 |
Saint Andrew's Hospital was opened in the former Lewis Gillette home in 1911. The existant structure at 708 5th Street SE was built from 1926-1929 as an addition to the Gillette home hospital. In 1964 the Gillette home was razed and the 1929 building was converted into student housing.
History
Saint Andrew's Hospital was opened in the former Lewis Gillette home in 1911. The Gillette home, located at 712 5th St, was built in the 1870s. The death of a child prompted the Gillette's desire to establish a hospital on their property. To this end, in 1911, Charles Gluek purchased the home for $23,000 and presented it to the German Lutheran Church for operation as a hospital and nursing school, primarily serving the local German immigrant population. The Gillette home structure accomodated 35 adult patients and a children's ward. The existant structure at 708 5th Street was built from 1926-1929 as an addition to the 35 bed hospital.
Ground was broken for the addition in 1926, and construction began in 1927. A description of the planned structure (from the Minneapolis Tribune, February 21, 1927) -- “It is to be of Italian design, brick and steel construction, with a frontage of 75 feet on 5th Street. The total cost will be approximately $250,000 and another wing to be built later, will cost an equal amount." The building is 5 stories high, and the foundations were constructed so that more stories could be added later. Neither the second wing nor the additional stories were ever built.
The addition increased the number of beds available, which was essential, since the hospital was "the only general hospital on the east side, and it serve[d] a community of more than 60,000 persons.” (Minneapolis Journal, September 10, 1925) With the completion of the addition, the nursing school classrooms and nurses accomodations were moved to the Gillette family home.
St. Andrew's was accredited by the American College of Surgeons in 1935. In 1938, it separated from the Church to become a private corporation known as Saint Andrew's Hospital Association. The nursing school closed in 1949, at which time 313 nurses had graduated from the program. The hospital became a division of Saint Barnabas Hospital (a hospital of the Episcopal Church) in 1953.
By the 1960s, the structure of the medical profession and the needs of the local population had changed, such that the hospital was operating at less than half of its capacity. It was closed as hospital in 1963, and reopened as University of Minnesota student housing by the Minneapolis Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1964. The Gillette home was condemned in 1960, and was razed in 1964.
Memories and stories
Notes
Some say this building is haunted, but there is no mention of it in historical documents.
Photo Gallery
References
St Andrew's Vertical Files from James K. Hosmer Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library
With Faith and a Marketbasket -- The story of St. Barnabas... by Grace Terry
