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Give $11 to help support the 11 Most Endangered Places.
11 Most Endangered
United States Marine Hospital
Year Listed: 2003
Location: Louisville , Kentucky
Current Status: Saved
Threat: Deterioration, Neglect
Latest News
The preservation of this 11 Most site was supported by Save America's Treasures, a program that is facing elimination in the proposed federal budget. Join our campaign to save this component of preservation funding, which has restored 1,100 structures and collections and created 16,000 jobs coast to coast.
In less than eleven months of work, the exterior of Louisville’s U.S. Marine Hospital has been completely restored.
Credit: The National Trust for Historic Preservation
Significance
Constructed in 1851 by an act of Congress, Louisville’s United States Marine Hospital served the community and the nation faithfully for more than a century. Designed by famed architect Robert Mills, America’s first native-born professional architect, the 3-story Greek Revival structure addressed the pressing health needs of seamen on the Western inland waterways; later, it was used as a as a military hospital during the Civil War. This National Historic Landmark recounts a significant chapter in U.S. maritime history and in the development of Louisville as an important river port -- but its significance has not protected it from serious deterioration. Now owned by the Louisville Jefferson County Health Department, the hospital has been vacant since 1975. Its ceiling and original plaster walls are falling, and the entire structure is suffering from extensive moisture and termite damage.
Updates
Exterior renovation of the Marine Hospital which began in November 2005, is scheduled to be completed in the next several months. Plans and specifications call for the removal of all exterior elements constructed prior to 1900; features include a mid-20th century boiler room, metal fire escapes, a multi-story smokestack, and carport. Twenty-three coats of exterior paint were removed during the demolition phase. Careful to guard the buildings’ National Historic Landmark status, all work undertaken by Schaefer General Contracting Services complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. The building has been meticulously tuck-pointed with many stone lintels repaired or replaced. The addition of a new roof, skylight, cornice, and perhaps most importantly, the cupola, returns the hospital’s exterior to its 1852 appearance. Cast iron balcony railings, original to the building, are being recast or restored
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