November 3rd, 2009 @ 1:21 am by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings
Old Providence Hospital, it has to be one of my favorite buildings in the city. I’ll never forget the day I was looking for houses in the Central District and stumbled upon it. “Wow!” was the only thing I could say. This is the kind of impressive landmark that gives a whole neighborhood a sense of place, relation, grounding, etc. It’s the kind of building that isn’t built anymore. I took these photos that same day in May 2007 after I’d found the house. Click on the thumbnails for higher res.
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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| Seattle’s Providence Hospital (now Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill). Photos by Jess Cliffe, VintageSeattle.org. |
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November 3rd, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
As someone who lives in this general neighborhood, I also appreciate the “cornerstone” that such a building gives to the neighborhood. But I do find it a bit sad that much of the architectural beauty has been blocked by furture additions to the building — particularly from the west looking east. You have done a great job of capturing some of the historic buildings best sights, but these tend to be limited to an area along Jefferson primarily now since the subsequent additions tend to block them out form other angles around the building.
November 5th, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
I also fret over the loss of the beauty of this building. As Swedish continues to delete all that beauty, covering most of the inside of the building with marble, be of good cheer at least Swedish is keeping some things intact. As a recent patient I can attest that the pillows are still the old Providence pillows, they are clearly marked with PHS. Of course I still have pain in my neck for several days of using them. Maybe I should have gone to the lobby and slept on the marble floor for greater comfort. Those are some old pillows but I’m sure Swedish has done some research and that a new lobby is better for my health.
November 5th, 2009 @ 11:45 pm
I came into this world at Providence.
November 11th, 2009 @ 5:01 pm
Swedish doesn’t actually own the old building any more. It was sold to Sabey in 2001 or 2002, not long after Swedish bought the campus from the Sisters of Providence.. They lease some space there, but it was Sabey that gutted the old girl and transformed it into a modern office building. Sabey still owns the building.
I loved poking around the old 1910 building when I worked there. There were lots of interesting spaces, some non-patient care areas that probably had the original floors, and tunnels between the 1910 building and the facilities annex. I loved the old chapel on the 5th floor with its stained glass windows and pipe organ.