Smallpox Hospital | |
 Seen in April 2019 | |
    | |
| Location | Roosevelt Island, Manhattan,New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°45′6″N73°57′34″W / 40.75167°N 73.95944°W /40.75167; -73.95944 |
| Area | 0.9 acres (3,600 m2)[2] |
| Built | Main building: 1854-56 South wing: 1903-04 North wing: 1904-05 |
| Architect | James Renwick Jr.(main building) York & Sawyer(south wing) Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen(north wing)[3] |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival[2] |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000881[1] |
| NYSRHP No. | 06101.000496 |
| NYCL No. | 0908 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
| Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
| Designated NYCL | March 23, 1976[4] |
TheSmallpox Hospital, sometimes referred to as theRenwick Smallpox Hospital and later theMaternity and Charity Hospital Training School, was ahospital located onRoosevelt Island inManhattan,New York City. Originally designed by architectJames Renwick Jr., the 100-bed hospital opened in 1856, when the area was known as Blackwell's Island.[5][6]
A century after it opened, the hospital was closed, and the building eventually fell into disrepair. It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1972 and designated a New York City Landmark four years later, the only ruin in the city with that designation.[7] After the completion of an ongoing $4.5 million stabilization project, the Smallpox Hospital ruins will be open to the public.[8]
The hospital is situated at the southern tip of the island, adjacent toFranklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. Renwick designed the main building. The south wing, built in 1903–04, was designed byYork & Sawyer, while the north wing (1904–05) was designed byRenwick, Aspinwall & Owen.[3] When completed, it was a three-story, nine-bay U-shaped structure faced ingraniteveneer in a randomashlar pattern overload-bearing rubblemasonry. The central block has ahipped roof, withcorbeledcrenelatedparapets on the projecting sections, with a simplecornice on the non-projecting sections. Crenelated polygonal chimneys rise from the southeast side of the main block. The two wings, which project from the ends of the northwest (front)facade, hadmansard roofs.[2]
At the center of the front facade is the main entrance. It has a porch open on three sides,oriel window above and projecting corbeled feature above the roofline. A wide pointed arch holds the main entrance. Though designed in the Gothic Revival style, all of the windows on the third floor have pointed arches rather than curves, unusual for thatarchitectural style.[2]
Despite the availability of thesmallpox vaccine, New York City still had large outbreaks of the disease, due to the arrival of infected immigrants.[9] Located on the isolated southern tip of the island in an attempt to quarantine patients, the hospital contained a large charity ward in addition to private rooms on the upper floors. In 1875, the hospital closed and became a training center for nurses attached toCity Hospital, later renamed Charity Hospital.[5] Renwick designed the building in theGothic Revival style, and in 1903–1905, two wings with the same architectural theme were added to the school, named the Home for the Nurses and the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School, to accommodate the growing student base.[9] In deference to the changing use of the island, in 1921 Blackwell's Island was renamed Welfare Island, and many of the structures there fell into disrepair as they became obsolete.[6][9] In the 1950s, both Charity Hospital and the nurses school were closed, and their operations moved to new buildings inQueens.[5][9]
Both buildings fell into disrepair, eventually becomingruins. In the 1970s, architectGiorgio Cavaglieri inspected them both, making plans to reinforce the walls of the Smallpox Hospital.[9] In 1972, the hospital was added to theNational Register of Historic Places, making it New York City's "only landmarked ruin."[7][10] In 1973, Welfare Island was renamed as Roosevelt Island after former PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.[6][11] Often referred to as theRenwick Ruin, the Neo-Gothic ruins have been illuminated nightly since 1995, in a somewhat successful effort to raise funds for stabilizing the structure.[12] However, on December 26, 2007, a section of the north wing collapsed, adding an urgency to preservation plans.[13] On May 28, 2009, ground was broken on theFranklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, which includes plans to stabilize the Smallpox Hospital, a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a 14-acre (57,000 m2) public area.[7] After a $4.5 million stabilization project, the Smallpox Hospital ruins will be open to the public.[8]
According to theAIA Guide to New York City, the remains of the Smallpox Hospital have the quality that architectural historianPaul Zucker, in his 1968 bookFascination of Decay, ascribed to ruins in general: "[A]n expression of an eerie romantic mood ... a palpable documentation of a period in the past ... something which recalls a specific concept of architectural space and proportion."[14][4] TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 1976 report designating the ruins aNew York City landmark, speculated that "The Smallpox Hospital could easily become the American equivalent of the great Gothic ruins of England and Wales, such as the late 13th centuryTintern Abbey inMonmouthshire, which has been admired and cherished since the 18th century as a romantic ruin," and described the building as "a picturesque ruin, one that could readily serve as the setting for a 19th century Gothic romance."[4]
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