by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
It’s one of Jacksonville’s oldest remaining buildings and chances are you’ve driven by it but not realized its significance.
That three-story brick structure with the porches on two sides and a cupola on top at the corner of Palmetto Avenue and Duval Street near the Arena is Old St. Luke’s Hospital. It was the city’s first hospital, dedicated in 1878 to provide for the inpatient medical needs of locals and tourists who had discovered Jacksonville as a winter destination. It is also one of the few buildings that survived the Great Fire of 1901 thanks to its location and the dedication of locals.
“The only reasons the hospital wasn’t destroyed is because it was on the other side of Hogans Creek away from the town and there was a brigade of brave citizens who were able to stop the march of the fire,” said Emily Lisska, executive director of the Jacksonville Historical Society.
Currently owned by the Arthritis Foundation of Florida and at one time home for that organization’s headquarters, Old St. Luke’s Hospital is the focus of a capital campaign to purchase the building along with the adjacent brick structure, the former Florida Casket Company factory and warehouse which opened in 1882.
In addition to the foundation, former U.S. Rep. the late Charlie Bennett maintained his Jacksonville office in the building for several years in the 1980s and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown has also used space in the old hospital building as her local legislative address.
The hospital will become a museum and education center while the warehouse will be renovated and then used for storage of the JHS archives and as a research facility in partnership with the Southern Genealogist’s Exchange Society.
“It will be a center for Jacksonville’s history,” said JHS President Jerry Spinks, who is leading the fundraising effort. “We feel it’s important to maintain all of the city’s history in one place and we’ll also be able to educate people about what to preserve and how to preserve it if they don’t want to donate their historical items to us.”
While she admitted it’s “only a guess,” Lisska estimated there are currently more than 1 million items in the JHS collection including documents, photographs and other historically significant collectibles. Much of the collection is at Jacksonville University with the rest in storage at several locations.
Spinks said the first phase of the campaign will raise $700,000 which will be used to purchase the property and both buildings for JHS.
“When we own the property free and clear we can begin to implement the rest of the plan,” he said.
That plan includes the museum and the archive facility which in addition to processing, storing and recording the collection on digital media, will also have an educational component.
“I can see our archives becoming a resource for people who are interested in local history. It will also be a place where we can educate college students who are studying museum management,” said Spinks.
He also said the campaign is comprised of five phases that will eventually raise $5 million. Naming and sponsorship opportunities range from $12,000 for one of the porches to $785,000 to forever memorialize a company or individual on the “Old St. Luke’s History Center.”
“We’re doing what historical facilities do,” said Lisska. “We’re preserving Jacksonville’s history. Having Old St. Luke’s will put everything in one place and allow the community to embrace our city’s heritage like never before.”
To learn more, visit www.jaxhistory.com.
Jacksonville Historical Society President Jerry Spinks with a scale model of Old St. Luke’s Hospital in its heyday. The model is one of the first exhibits for a museum planned for the building.
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