Downtown Indy from the roof of Weyerbacher Terrace/St. Vincent Hospital before the Ivy Tech expansion.
It was estimated that nearly half of those born in Indianapolis between 1913 and 1974 came into this world in St. Vincent’s Hospital’s massive brick building at Fall Creek and Illinois. Once St. Vincent’s relocated to the Northwest Side, their downtown location was refurbished into Weyerbacher Terrace, offering low income and elderly housing. By the late 90’s however, Weyerbacher was in a state of utter disrepair and a near daily feature of the police blotter. After the city seized the property and closed it’s doors in 2002, the building sat vacant until Ivy Tech’s $43,000,000 revitalization of the grounds, restoring and preserving the south facade in the process.
The St. Vincent Chapel in Weyerbacher Terrace, now demolished in the Ivy Tech expansion.
I’m all for keeping as much of the great architecture as we can. I also think that when an older building is put to new use it’s a good thing. But, so many people complain when the old building is gutted for new purposes. At least they have tried to keep the facade, how that building looked. They should be commended for that effort. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, one of the older buildings was demolished, except for the front facade. The new building offers all the new technology and safety that people should expect, but still holds with the look and feel of the older building and the campus. I for one, am glad that some people take the effort to try to preserve as much as they can, after all they could have taken the easy way and just torn it all down.
I remember St. Vincents…although I was born at Methodist, I had lots of friends who were born at St Vincent’s.
I couldn’t agree with you more. If the choice is between totally razing the building or preserving it’s essence by holding on to it’s facade, I’m definitely in favor of the later. I think what was done with St. Vincent’s is pretty remarkable. The only thing that gets me is in the original sale of the building from the city to Ivy Tech, both the facade AND the chapel were supposed to be preserved, but in the final plans, the chapel was lost. It’s why I included the photo in the article. Could have been any number of factors that led to it not making it into the final plan (structural integrity, etc.). Still, I like that the building’s spirit is still watching over Fall Creek.