dbigtex56a Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Does anyone remember (or have pictures) of the old Medical Arts Building downtown (circa 1929), just north of Houston Center? As I recall, it was an early Art Deco skyscraper. When I saw it in the early 80s it was filthy and neglected, but the design and detail were memorable. It can be seen in the upper part of the photo, while under demolition: http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f284/liftedholmz/old-william-penn-hotel.jpg Anyone have a better picture or any info? It was quite an attractive building. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 i have the same pic dbigtex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Another one here, but it won't let me post the image: http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5865:159 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Colorized version here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Tbird Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Another one... with some history. Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and Gottlieb, architects, designed the Medical Arts Building. Located at 1215 Walker, the sixteen-story building was completed in 1926. Featuring a Gothic style, it was topped with vertical piers. Of assistance to the medical profession besides office space, it housed the Houston Academy of Medicine Library previously located in several small reading rooms at different sites. In 1949, the library merged with the Baylor Medical College Library retaining its original name, the Houston Academy of Medicine Library. Now one of the finest medical libraries, it became housed in the medical center in 1954. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 More trivia:The Medical Arts building cost $1.75 million to construct. The electrical system was designed to handle large loads such as X-ray machines, and the elevators were specially designed to be able to fit stretchers. Even the ground floor sandwich shop had sterilized equipment. In 1939 a three-story annex was added to house the Library and the Medical and Dental Societies. Later six floors were converted into a hospital. The property was eventually acquired by Texaco and continued in operation as a hospital until 1986. By that time the building was considered unsafe and sidewalk covers were installed to protect pedestrians from falling Gothic tracery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Wow. What a shame to have lost that. If kept up, that could have been a jewel downtown.I can't recall what is on that lot today? Is it still just a surface parking lot? It's amazing to think of what Houston has lost... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Wow. What a shame to have lost that. If kept up, that could have been a jewel downtown.I can't recall what is on that lot today? Is it still just a surface parking lot? It's amazing to think of what Houston has lost... yes - surface parking 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 So, they tear down a beautiful building, even if it was in bad shape, and 25 years later it is still just a surface parking lot?Only in Houston... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 I remember going there in 1975 to have my wisdom teeth pulled. Ouch! . My brother in-law had his appendicts removed there around 1976. He stayed overnight. It was a real inpatient type hospital. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 I remember going there in 1975 to have my wisdom teeth pulled. Ouch! . My brother in-law had his appendicts removed there around 1976. He stayed overnight. It was a real inpatient type hospital. I went there for my company physical when I started a new job early in 1982. For some reason I recall the physician's diploma stated that he'd graduated from medical school in 1933. His office looked as if it had been there, unchanged, ever since. Shortly thereafter I developed a severe ear infection, and because I knew no other doctors in Houston, I made an appointment with him. His solution was to give me a HUGE penicillin shot you-know-where, a very 1942-style treatment. It hurt for days. And that was the last time I was ever in that building. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelindaMata Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I remember the building well. I worked for family dental group in the building. The Senior Ruthven was credited for being the first dentist to use a powered dental drill. In the late 70's the elevators were "manned" and the dental group worked through the lunch hour, lunch was delivered from the building deli. You slid in the tiny break room, took a bite and went back to work. Can't remember ever eating a whole sandwich. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpheus Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 My father had an office in the Medical Arts Bldg for 50 years-graduated dental school in 1927. I got to know that lobby and office real well.Had a busy lunch counter and lots of glossy marble. What kind of small mind destroys a structure like that for parking? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) On 3/7/2007 at 9:54 AM, H-Town Man said: Another one here, but it won't let me post the image: http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5865:159 This is a cool shot...... why? Because of what I think is missing........ isn’t the building that now contains the Le Méridien not yet built in this image? It looks like there is ar three level brown building there...... and, I wonder what building this image was taken from? Edited January 1, 2018 by UtterlyUrban 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Judging by the presence of the Niels Esperson Building and the apparent age of the cars, this picture looks to be from the mid to late 1920s - which would put the building now housing Le Méridien about 25 years into the future, on the site of the three story building. This picture looks like it was taken from the roof of a three story +/- building on the block that now has Fulbright Tower (3 Houston Center), that was most likely mowed down by Texas Eastern as part of its wholesale clearing of blocks in anticipation of building Houston Center. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 On the left: 1963-04 Steve Navarro on Rusk Avenue in Houston by Mark Navarro, on Flickr 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Nice picture. I'm guessing about 1963-64. The Tenneco Building (1963) looks complete, but 806 Main (JW Marriott) doesn't appear to have received its facade slipcover yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 In the early days of The Parking District... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 3 hours ago, Subdude said: Nice picture. I'm guessing about 1963-64. The Tenneco Building (1963) looks complete, but 806 Main (JW Marriott) doesn't appear to have received its facade slipcover yet. I wrote this before I noticed the caption. Doh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EspersonBuildings Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 You must be from out of town, lol! This is Houston, sadly this kind of horrible things happens all the time! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 When I started a new job in 1982, the physician who gave me my physical had an office in the Medical Arts building. If's possible that he never had an office anywhere else, as his diploma from medical school was dated 1933. I remember thinking what a glamorous building it must have been in its day, and observed that the exterior probably hadn't been cleaned since it built. Although shabby, it retained much of its original ornamentation and many of its light fixtures. Given enough money and a sympathetic treatment, it would have made a memorable hotel. Unfortunately, there wasn't much interest in historic buildings in those days, nor in developing anything east of Main Street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Remind me, please... where was this building? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 47 minutes ago, Houston19514 said: Remind me, please... where was this building? Next to Le Meridien, behind 1 Houston Center. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 On 12/31/2017 at 9:21 AM, morpheus said: What kind of small mind destroys a structure like that for parking? The same kind that turns a wonderful art moderne department store into a parking garage. (1111 Main) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 5 hours ago, editor said: The same kind that turns a wonderful art moderne department store into a parking garage. (1111 Main) To be fair, at the time(80's), there was no other economic use for that property. Good story on the store https://www.papercitymag.com/home-design/sakowitz-department-store-houston-bygone-area-retail-shopping/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted September 6, 2022 Share Posted September 6, 2022 Local business listing from October 19, 1949 for Southern X-Ray Engineering Co. at 211 Medical Arts Building Houston, Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 Newspaper article about the Medical Arts Hospital closing. Unknown date. Medical Arts Hospital to close as building shuts. Medical Arts Hospital in downtown Houston will close in a few months when the 16 story Medical Arts Building that houses the hospital shuts down because of old age. Texaco, Inc. owns the building and after a detailed inspection decided that it would have to make expensive structural repairs to keep it operating, said the company spokesman Phil Blackburn. “The investment just wasn't justified.” – The 117-bed Medical Arts Hospital is seeking to merge its medical staff with another hospital, said David Rittenhouse, administrator of the facility. Because of the sluggish Houston economy, and a government crackdown on health care costs, opening a new hospital at another location would not make the sense, he said. – The Medical Arts Building at 1215 Walker was constructed in 1926 and the hospital, which occupies six of its floors, opened in 1958. Texaso bought the building as an investment in 1981. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 wow! I never knew James Greenwood, Jr. had an office in the MAB! Very cool find here. James Greenwood, Jr., M.D. J. Randolph Jones, M.D. Neurosurgery 521 Medical Arts Building - Houston, Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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