As part of its Mission Statement, Virginia Union University is clear about the importance of its historic foundation: “Virginia Union University is nourished by its African American heritage…” Unfortunately, this nourishment doesn’t seem to extend to buildings that still stand and are located on the VUU campus – like a hospital paid for and constructed by Richmond African Americans in a heartfelt appeal for desperately needed medical care in the depths of the Great Depression. The Shockoe Examiner took a look at this building on Overbrook Road, and the uniquely Richmond story of how it came into existence.
The history of the
Richmond Community Hospital is reminiscent of that of Richmond’s Leigh Street
Armory in that both buildings were held by entities who were completely
indifferent to the importance of these places. Both buildings were subject to
demolition by neglect – a technique with which institutions erase cultural
heritage by a cynical process of slow rot, leading invariably to demolition “in
the interest of public safety.” Both the hospital and the armory were born of a
tidal wave of community support and fundraising among Richmond Blacks even in
the conditions of this severely segregated city. Both buildings were literally
built by Blacks.
The difference
between what is now the Black History Museum on Leigh Street and the Richmond
Community Hospital is that VUU has now abandoned all pretense of being the
steward of an important and historic building. The “Master Plan” will simply
sweep away historic fabric deemed inconvenient and cynically replace it with a
sprawling campus of glass and chrome whose historic foundation, built on the
sweat, money, and community of previous generations, will be destroyed.
The main entrance to the long-neglected Richmond Community Hospital building as it appears today.
Happily, the
armory on Leigh Street was eventually reborn as the Black History Museum and
Cultural Center of Virginia. After standing as a roofless ruin for generations,
the building is now recognized as an architectural gem. The museum within its
walls has become an attraction for visitors to the City of Richmond as well as
researchers interested in Richmond’s place in Black history and culture. The
Black History Museum is one of the major sites in this city for African
American heritage tourism. This dramatic turn of events only came to pass because
of the vision and courage of the Board of the Black History Museum who saw the
opportunity of creating an astonishing asset for the city. No such attention
has been given the former Richmond Community Hospital, and it has languished,
vacant, for decades under the “stewardship” of Virginia Union University, where
successive University administrations have demonstrated neither vision nor courage.
On January 12, 2024, RichmondBizSense’s contributor Johnathan Spiers reported the announcement of VUU’s grand, 10-year, campus Master Plan, to cost $500,000,000.
In this scenario, the former Richmond Community Hospital building has disappeared, replaced with, as is so often the case, that engine of architectural obliteration and favorite landscape feature of unimaginative planners everywhere, a parking lot.
A Google Maps image of the western portion of the VUU campus. The red oval is the location of the former Richmond Community Hospital at 1209 Overbrook Road.
A detail of the recently released VUU 10-year Master Plan. In this vision of the future, where the hospital stood in the now-blank Overbrook Road frontage will be a parking lot.
In 2003, the freshly boarded-up hospital was going to be the home of the VUU “Community Development Corporation,” but that organization seems to no longer exist.
One of the many observers appalled by the
deliberate deterioration of the hospital was a Shockoe Examiner reader who
commented: “I was born
in Richmond Community Hospital, as were many Black Americans of my generation
in Richmond. It is disappointing that the current owners would prefer to
demolish this historic building instead of restoring it and having it
registered as a historic landmark.” Why VUU would not take advantage of the
history of this building and proudly promote it as part of their future plans
is not known. All institutions of higher learning need to
grow to thrive, but with a proposed expenditure of half a billion dollars,
surely some allowance can be made by a school that aspires to be one of Richmond’s
leading African American institutions, rooted in its rich history.
An expression born in the Vietnam War was the heartless phrase, “we had to destroy the village to save it.” That same philosophy is apparently driving VUU and its attitude toward the school’s history. In an article published in Richmond BizSense on February 5, 2024, unknown “university officials” are quoted:
The executive mansion building would remain with the development, while the 1930s-era hospital building, which the university said is no longer usable, would apparently be razed to make way for the new buildings. Officials said the new development would “appropriately honor and commemorate” the hospital as the first black hospital in Richmond.
How can the words, “honor and commemorate” be used in defense of destroying the thing that is celebrated? What kind of honor is that? What type of commemoration is possible by the same people who ensured the complete erasure of the building that is being honored? Richmond’s long history is full of horrid ironies but this is among the most jarring.
“This is a
concept, this is a plan, and there’s a huge amount of engagement that’s going
to happen over the next several months,” said Grant Neely, VUU’s Vice President
of University Relations, speaking of the new Master Plan. If that is true, then now is the time to act.
The President of Virginia Union University is Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, who in addition to his other
duties is listed on the VUU website as “Executive Director of the Center for
the Study of HBCUs” (the acronym for “Historic Black Colleges and
Universities”). Emblematic of Dr. Lucas’ concern with the historic fabric of
his campus, the link provided on the VUU site for his “Center of Study” is
broken.
However, his email probably functions and his email address is HJLucas@VUU.EDU. Email
Dr. Lucas and ask if he is at all aware of the history of the former Richmond
Community Hospital and how it came into existence. Ask Dr. Lucas if the
destruction of this once-vital African American historical site the is best
thing for VUU, the surrounding city, and the historic foundation on which his
university was once alleged to stand.
Recent articles on VUU's plans regarding the Richmond Community Hospital building:
RichmondBizSense: VUU lands $40M investment, plans up to 200 homes at Brook and Overbrook
Richmond Free Press: VUU’s plan for$42M investment includes new housing, but not historic hospital
Richmond Free Press: Don’t pull plug on historic hospital, VUU
Richmond Times-Dispatch: RICHMOND COMMUNITY HOSPITAL - Michael Paul Williams: The old Community Hospital is Richmond's Black history. VUU should preserve it
1 comment:
Hmm, Dr. Hakim J. Lucas? Wasn’t he involve in the Dorm Deal fiasco with former President, Edison O. Jackson at Bethune-Cookman University? Google it🤷🏾♂️
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