Location: Roosevelt Island, New York City, NY
Smallpox Hospital is an abandoned building of a former medical facility located on Roosevelt Island in the heart of New York City in a state of New York. Designed by the architect James Renwick Jr. in Neo-Gothic style, the Smallpox Hospital, with a capacity of one hundred beds, was opened in 1856 in the isolated south end of the island, to guarantee of the smallpox patients, both in charity (in a common room) and in payment (in private rooms of the upper floors). In 1875 Smallpox Hospital closed and became a nursing school, associated with City Hospital. Between 1903 and 1905 two wings were added to the building, in the same neo-Gothic style, to accommodate the growing number of students. The final closure of Smallpox Hospital occurred in the 1950s, with the relocation of the facilities to Queens, and the building gradually fell into ruin. On March 16, 1972 the building, together with the City Hospital, was inscribed in the National Register of Historic Places and there is a project to rehabilitate the ruins and open them to the public.
The building is located in an otherwise undeveloped
area on the southern tip of the island. It is a three-storey building
with nine bays and a U-shaped floor plan. The facade consists of a
facing made of granite, which is laid out in an irregular ashlar masonry
and hides the quarry stone masonry of the load-bearing walls. The
central wing originally had a gable roof with a cantilevered crenellated
parapet on the protruding bays and a plain cornice on the non-protruding
bays. Multi-cornered crenellated fireplaces sit on the south-east side
of the main wing. The two side wings are attached to the ends of the
north-west facade, the front, and originally had mansard roofs.
The main entrance is in the center of the front facade. It has a porch
open on three sides, bay windows above and a crenellated ledge above the
eaves. The main entrance is housed in a wide pointed arch. Although the
building was designed in the neo-Gothic style, all of the second floor
windows have pedimental arches rather than pointed arches, which is
unusual for this style.
Despite the availability of a smallpox vaccine, New
York City still had major epidemics of the disease in the mid-19th
century, due in part to the arrival of infected immigrants. The hospital
was built in isolation on the southern tip of the island to quarantine
patients. The hospital closed in 1875 and became the Nursing Training
Center at City Hospital, later known as Charity Hospital. Renwick
designed the building in the neo-Gothic style and in 1903-1905 the two
similarly designed side wings were added to accommodate the increasing
number of trainee nurses under the name Home for the Nurses and the
Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School. In response to the
island's change in use, Blackwell's Island was renamed Welfare Island in
1921, and many of the island's structures began to deteriorate after
disuse. In the 1950s, both the Charity Hospital and Nursing School
closed as the facility moved to new premises in Queens.
Both
buildings fell into ruins. In the 1970s they were inspected by the
architect Giorgio Cavaglieri, who made plans to strengthen the walls of
the Smallpox Hospital. The ruined hospital was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is the only listed ruin in New
York City following the demolition of City Hospital. A year later, in
1973, Welfare Island was given its current name, Roosevelt Island, in
honor of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The remains of the
building, often referred to as the Renwick Ruin, have been illuminated
at night since 1995, also to help raise funds for the preservation of
the structure. However, on December 26, 2007, part of the north wing
collapsed, making the necessary conservation measures more urgent. On
May 28, 2009, construction began on a new park on Roosevelt Island. This
$4.5 million project includes preservation of Smallpox Hospital, a
memorial dedicated to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a 12-acre public park.
Buildings of the Smallpox
Hospital fell into disrepair, eventually becoming ruins. In the
1970s, architect Giorgio Cavaglieri inspected them both, making
plans to reinforce the walls of the Smallpox Hospital. In 1972, the
Smallpox hospital was added to the National Register of Historic
Places, making it New York City's "only landmarked ruin." In 1973,
Welfare Island was renamed as Roosevelt Island after former
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Often referred to as the Renwick
Ruin, the Neo-Gothic ruins have been illuminated nightly since 1995,
in a somewhat successful effort to raise funds for stabilizing the
structure. However, on December 26, 2007, a section of the north
wing collapsed, adding an urgency to preservation plans. On May 28,
2009, ground was broken on a new park on Roosevelt Island that
includes plans to stabilize the Smallpox Hospital, a memorial to
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a 14-acre (57,000 m2) public area. After
a $4.5 million stabilization project, the Smallpox Hospital ruins
will be open to the public.
According to the AIA Guide to New
York City, the remains of the Smallpox Hospital have the quality
that architectural historian Paul Zucker, in his 1968 book
Fascination 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." The New York City Landmarks
Preservation Commission, in its 1976 report designating the ruins a
New York City landmark, speculated that "The Smallpox Hospital could
easily become the American equivalent of the great Gothic ruins of
England, such as the late 13th century Tintern Abbey in
Monmouthshire, 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."