16.0 - 2600 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd — original pdf

Backup

HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JANUARY 8, 2025 DA 2024-165526; GF-2024-165917 2600 EAST MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. BOULEVARD 16 – 1 PROPOSAL ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH Demolish a ca. 1972 auxiliary hospital building to construct a new mixed-use development. The Capital Area Research and Radiation Center building is a one-story Mid-century Modern health service facility designed by Page, Southerland, and Page and constructed by J. C. Evans Co. The building is horizontally oriented, with a dramatic carport extension at the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard elevation and a largely windowless street presence. It is concrete with applied stucco. Concrete walls seven feet thick and ceilings four feet thick were engineered to shield physicians and technicians from the radiation equipment within. Holy Cross Hospital, the first hospital to allow Black doctors in Austin, was originally constructed on East 11th Street in 1940 to address the burgeoning disparity in care between black and white hospitals in segregation-era Austin. It was relocated to East 19th Street—now Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard—in 1951. The new hospital was designed by Charles Henry Page, who would later help to found Page, Southerland, and Page.1 Though the main hospital was demolished in 1991 and replaced by Campbell Elementary School, its site received a Texas Historical Commission marker in 2021, an effort spearheaded by historian and Rogers-Washington-Holy Cross resident Berri McBride. “At the time,” recounts McBride in an interview with WhatOnceWas.org, “it was the only major hospital where African Americans could receive medical services that were affordable. But at the same time, the services provided by the hospital were complete, they were thorough, and they were first rate provided by superb doctors, including African American doctors.”2 As desegregation slowly took hold in the city, Holy Cross further distinguished itself as a progressive establishment by earning grants for new hospital buildings, innovative treatments, and cutting-edge equipment. In 1965, Page, Southerland, and Page designed the hospital’s iconic five-story circular nursing facility. The separate cancer center, operated by the Capital Area Research and Radiation Foundation and also designed by Page, was approved for installation five years later following the approval of federal funding for a regional radiation facility in Austin. The new cancer center, first called the Regional Research and Radiation Center and then renamed Capital Area Research and Radiation Center, was selected to house Central Texas’s first cobalt-60 radiotherapy device and a linear accelerator designed to treat deep tumors with high-voltage X-rays. The center was also unique in that it was an outpatient-only treatment facility intended to treat up to 100 patients a day. It contained Austin’s first x-ray therapy simulator, which allowed physicians to plan treatment and perform diagnostic tasks.3 PROPERTY EVALUATION Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain moderate integrity; however, though the cancer center is intact, its hospital campus context has been demolished. The building, now vacant, contains hazardous radioactive materials that make reuse unsafe. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it may meet two criteria for landmark designation: a. Architecture. The building is constructed with Mid-century Modern design by Page, Southerland, and Page; however, its context as part of a larger hospital campus is gone. https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details?fn=print&atlasnumber=5000023258, 1 https://austin.towers.net/marking-the-medical-history-of-east-austin-at-holy-cross-hospital/ 2 rogers-washington-holy-cross-area/ 3 “Dedication of Cancer Site Dated.” The Austin Statesman, 28 Feb. 1973. 6. https://whatoncewas.org/berri-mcbride-remembers-the- b. Historical association. The property is associated with Holy Cross Hospital. The cancer center was the first of c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human its kind in Austin. history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The property possesses a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. Holy Cross was the first hospital system to employ African American doctors in segregation-era Austin, and the Capital Area Research and Radiation Center provided lifesaving care to the entire Central Texas area. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, 16 – 2 cultural, or historical value to the city. COMMITTEE FEEDBACK No additional feedback. The Committee found that the replacement design appropriately highlighted the important history of Holy Cross Hospital, and were comfortable approving the demolition considering the new design. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Concur with Committee feedback and release the demolition permit upon receipt of a City of Austin Documentation Package. LOCATION MAP 16 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos 16 – 4 Google Street View, October 2024 Occupancy History City Directory Research, December 2024 1975 1971 1968 1965 1962 1959 1955 1952 1949 Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Holy Cross Hospital (Address listed as 2600 E. 19th St) Address not listed Historical Information 16 – 5 [Holy Cross Hospital entrance], photograph, 197X;, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. Douglass, Neal. [Construction at Holy Cross Hospital], photograph, 1953; University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.  16 – 6 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 13 Dec 1967: A13. 16 – 7 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 13 Mar 1970: 45. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 24 Mar 1970: 35.  16 – 8 ROWLAND NETHAWAY, The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 13 Apr 1970: 1. 16 – 9 CAROLYN BOBO. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 08 Oct 1971: 6. 16 – 10 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 07 Oct 1971: A9. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 09 Oct 1971: A6. 16 – 11 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 17 Feb 1972: B31. 16 – 12 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 28 Feb 1973: 6. 16 – 13 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 10 Mar 1973: 28. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 11 Mar 1973: B1. 16 – 14 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 12 Mar 1973: 16. 16 – 15 16 – 16 MAGDALENA BENAVIDES SUMPTER Special to the American Statesman.  The Austin American - Statesman (1973- 1980), Evening ed.; Austin, Tex.. 23 Oct 1979: C1 Permits Water Tap Permit, December 9, 1971