Infirmary

Infirmary

Buildings

The 1932 Infirmary was built for women only with an 80-bed capacity to care for more advanced patients and was used as a receiving ward. It replaced the wood frame pavilion, but the date of the pavilion demolition has not been been determined. In 1952, the Infirmary was renovated and two wings were added as a new construction project. At some point the connections to and from the 1932 Infirmary were constructed to the north and south, obliterating the building's facade with the exception of a limited view of the second and third floors.

Archival photographs document that the 1932 Infirmary was a three-story Classical Revival brick building designed as a five-part compound plan. Windows appear to be metal casement with the style varying from floor to floor in the central block and hyphens; arch windows framed with limestone sills and keystones on the first floor, rectangular windows framed with limestone sills and lintels on the second floor, and rectangular windows framed with limestone sills and brick lintels on the third floor. Narrow vertical windows in sets of three are repeated on each floor of the wings. The entryway was accessed by seven steps and appears to be limestone. At least two pair of columns with Doric capitals flanked the entry and supported an entablature and pediment. In the center of the pediment was a modifed Cross of Lorraine, the symbol for the fight against tuberculosis since 1902. Horizontal bands of limestone run along the length of the building, one just below the roof line and the other as a water table along the first floor level. The building is a combination of Classical Revival and Modern Movement styles. It is well maintained and in excellent condition.

The 1952 addition repeats the design ornamentation of the 1932 Infirmary to which the two diagonal wings are attached. It does not, however, mimic the past entirely as the wings feature modern, cast concrete cantilevered, horizontal shading devices over the windows on the south elevation. The east entryway is enclosed with brick walls and porthole windows with square glass inserts. The addition is three stories with a basement level and features a modified window design as compared to the 1932 Infirmary with arch windows framed with limestone sills and keystones on the first floor, rectangular windows framed with limestone sills and lintels on the second floor, and rectangular windows framed with limestone sill and brick lintels on the third floor. Narrow vertical windows are repeated in the facade. The original 1932 entryway is also repeated, albeit in a smaller form, with pilasters, entablature, and pediment at the doorway located on the north side of the east wing. A horizontal band of limestone runs along the building below the first floor windows.

Helen Carlton of Tulsa, Oklahoma

2009

Helen Carlton of Tulsa, Oklahoma

JPEG

Still image

Digital photo