Located at 2125 Park Blvd. in San Diego's Balboa Park, this building which now serves as Parks Department Administrative Building was once the U.S. Navy Hospital's Administrative Building and a Marine Field Hospital.
This California State Military Department website (
visit link) informs us that the
"Naval Hospital, San Diego was located in Balboa Park and was a huge Navy-run medical facility. In 1914 the Marines set up a field hospital in Balboa Park as part of the Panama-California Exposition and never left. In 1919, in an effort to draw more Navy installations to San Diego, the city fathers donated 17.35 acres of park land, which included the site of the Marine's field hospital, to the Navy for a 250-bed hospital.
During World War II, buildings were put up one after the other until the medical center consisted of 241 buildings with 10,499 beds on a total spread covering 247 acres. Over 172,000 patients were treated here during World War II with the peak load coming in December 1944 with 12,000 patients. The Korean War and the Cold War kept the hospital in active use for decades and it continued to expand in the postwar years."
In addition, a historical sign at the site reads:
"Developed Regional Parks
Administration Building
2125 Park Blvd.
Commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1922, and
designed by the Bureau of Yards and Docks, this Spanish
Colonial Revival structure was home to the Naval Hospital
Administrative Building for over sixty-five years. During
World War II, when the U.S. Navy occupied most of the
buildings within the central area of Balboa Park, the
'hosptial had 10,499 beds and treated over 172,000
patients. In 1988, the Administration Building was
officially transferred to the City of San Diego along with
forty-one other structures and thirty-two acres of land in a
land swap with the U.S. Navy. A new Naval Hospital
(Naval Medical Center San Diego) was constructed to the
east of this location. In 1991, after a renovation of the
building and surrounding grounds, the City of San Diego
Park and Recreation Department began utilizing the
facility. Of the forty-two buildings built over sixty-five
years, only three currently remain: the Administration
Building, Library and Chapel."