The 100-year-old building celebrated its centennial on Juneteenth, renewing the legacy of health and hope in Houston's Third Ward.
On June 19, 1926, the Houston Negro Hospital celebrated its dedication ceremony amongst a crowd of neighbors, philanthropists, and medical professionals. The occasion was the result of years of advocacy and fundraising. As a result of segregation and inequities in healthcare, Isaiah M. Terrell, an educator and advocate for African American schools, worked with ten pioneering Black doctors to fundraise for the proposed Houston Negro Hospital, the city's first non-profit healthcare provider for Black residents. Mr. Terrell met with renowned oilman and Houston philanthropist Joseph S. Cullinan to encourage him to be part of the hospital. The advocacy and dedication of Mr. Terrell and the ten doctors, along with his son's service alongside African American soldiers in World War I, inspired Mr. Cullinan to commit $80,000 to the construction of the hospital. He would go on to donate funds for an additional building to train and house Black nurses, and ultimately leave more than $500,000 to the hospital in his will. Following decades of use and evolution, and then a decade of disuse, the campus has now been meticulously restored to serve a new generation.
To honor the site’s rich legacy, Harris County wanted to return the building to its mission to serve the community while preserving the hospital’s historic features. Consisting of a hospital building, a nursing school, and an ancillary laundry building anchored around a central lawn, the updated design includes a clinic, a community center, and a new administration building to support Harris County Public Health. Kirksey designed and renovated the 100-year-old Riverside Hospital, and Harrison Kornberg designed and renovated the Nursing School and Utility Building.
The renovation of the hospital building preserves the facade of the original hospital and adds an exterior elevator core with two new interior stairs. The original design of the hospital included screened porches for natural ventilation. In the decades since, renovation projects closed in the porches, but the renovation restores the first floor’s porches and replicates them on the second and third floors with windows. The porches celebrate the healing elements of the southern sun, the prevailing breezes, and the calming view of trees in the courtyard. The ground floor houses a clinic and other health spaces for the community, and the second and third floors include primarily open-floor-plan workstations for the administrative team.
In a neighborhood rich in tradition and legacy, this project both celebrates community history and is an investment in public health for the future. Today's celebration, which included a health fair and shuttle services provided by the County from surrounding neighborhoods, is a renewal of Riverside's original intent to serve Houston's Third Ward and a platform for another 100 years of health and wellness.