"Old" Parkland Hospital, built in 1913 as the only public hospital in Dallas, got a much-needed facelift for its grounds in 1938-1939 from the National Youth Administration and their local community and government partners.
A new Parkland Hospital was built to serve the poor and indigent of Dallas County in 1954, but old Parkland was used for various clinics and other indigent health services until 1974, when the 1913 "Old Parkland" building was closed.
In 2006, Dallas County sold the old Parkland campus to notable Dallas developer Trammell Crow. Crow not only preserved the historic hospital and nurses dormitory buildings, he built more buildings of the same style to create a modern and beautiful business campus.
Although the Old Parkland Campus is private property, it is possible to visit them. Short-term free street parking is available, and you may have to speak to a security guard. They understand that the public are allowed to visit these markers, but respectfully ask you not to photograph other art installations.
The underground parking garage is reserved for business tenants and their visitors.
In 2006 the plaque has been incorporated in a small circular landscaped garden which now features a statue of Trammell Crow, now deceased, the former CEO of Crow Holdings who redeveloped this campus into a state-of-the-art business campus and has decorated it with multiple millions of dollars worth of his own artworks.
The plaque is located in the flower bed left of the statue's stone pedestal, as you face it.
The plaque reads as follows:
"This area improved and beautified by the
NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION
in cooperation with the
GARDEN CLUBS OF THE DALLAS WOMAN’S CLUB
and the
County Commissioner, District No. 1
sponsored by
DALLAS CITY -COUNTY HOSPITAL SYSTEM
1938-1939"
From the Dallas Morning News: (
visit link)
"NEWS
CURIOUS TEXAS
What’s the history behind Dallas’ Old Parkland on Maple Avenue? Curious Texas turns back time
By Elvia Limón
5:30 AM on Jan 25, 2019
One of our readers, who identified himself as Josh, wanted to know more about the former hospital’s history, so he asked Curious Texas: What’s the significance and/or history of the Old Parkland on Maple and Oak Lawn?
The Old Parkland campus on Maple Avenue may be home to more than 100 companies today, but it was once Dallas’ first public hospital.
One of our readers, who identified himself as Josh, wanted to know more about the former hospital’s history, so he asked Curious Texas: What’s the significance and/or history of the Old Parkland on Maple and Oak Lawn? It looks really fancy and nice, but I have no idea what it is.
The question is part of Curious Texas, an ongoing project from The Dallas Morning News that invites you to join in our reporting process. The idea is simple: You have questions, and our journalists are trained to track down answers.
You can send us your Curious Texas questions by texting "DMN" to 214-817-3868. Follow the prompts and introduce yourself to us, share your story or questions, and we'll text you with information as we report the story.
Drivers along the Dallas North Tollway have probably seen one of the campus’ red-brick buildings with a grand copper dome and thought of the Old Parkland building as quite palatial. In reality, Parkland had a humble beginning as wooden clapboard hospital in 1894.
In 1913, Parkland's original structure was deemed unsuitable and prominent Dallas figures spent $112,000 to build a new hospital. The three-story building was renamed Woodlawn and became the first brick hospital in Texas. The facility featured high ceilings, spacious sitting rooms, tea parlors and balconies overlooking the bucolic grounds and enough room for 100 patients, The News reported in 1998.
The hospital had a staff of six doctors, five nurses and "a dozen servants of all kinds." The new building was located at the edge of town that was described as being set far back among tall oak trees and "rolling meadows on all sides," The News reported in 2006. There was a common belief that the country air would help patients get well.
The firm for the hospital’s original architect, Herbert M. Greene, also designed the original Titche-Goettinger and Neiman Marcus department stores, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and several buildings on the University of Texas at Austin’s campus.
In the mid-1930s, three new wings, including a psychiatric ward and venereal disease clinic, were added to the hospital with $550,000 in federal funds. A new nurses’ dormitory and power plant were added to the campus as well.
The hospital became known as Parkland because the hospital’s new buildings expanded onto land the city of Dallas bought to build a park.
When Woodlawn's space couldn't accommodate Dallas' growing population, patients were moved to a new Parkland location on Harry Hines Boulevard in 1954, which treated patients until the current Parkland facility opened in 2015. The old hospital continued treating patients with asthma, tuberculosis and emphysema. The Maple Avenue facility also housed a long-term care ward, rehabilitation center and inpatient facility for extremely obese people, The News reported in 1998.
The old hospital closed permanently as a health care facility in 1974 and was taken over by the Sheriff's Department several years later. Under the department’s control, the facility became a work-release jail, photo lab, print shop and depository for old records and uniforms.
The Dallas police and fire departments also used the facility to train new recruits.
Parkland repurchased the site from Dallas County for $2 million in the mid-1990s.
In 2006, Crow Holdings, an investment company operated by Dallas' Trammell Crow family, and Alliance Residential redeveloped the landmark complex for office space and residences. Alliance paid $16.5 million for the old Parkland property, according to The News' archives.
Crow Holdings’ headquarters moved into original Old Parkland hospital building in 2009. A year later, other restored buildings, including the former nurses’ quarters and Woodlawn Hall, reopened.
Cathy Golden, general manager of Old Parkland operations, did not give The News specifics in 2017, but said it was safe to say that its leases were among the priciest in town.
The current 9.5-acre business campus — half of which is communal green space — includes two historic buildings and seven new office buildings, which are home to more than 100 financial investment firms, family offices, public foundations and other companies. The campus also has one building still under construction.
Bronze statues of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin along with two dozen sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol are located throughout the campus grounds.
The private complex also has a fitness center with locker rooms, sauna, squash and basketball courts, jogging trail, barbershop, laundry facilities, restaurant, private tavern and concierge service."