Left vacant for more than 30 years and believed to be "haunted," a former hospital in the Beacon Hill area of Kansas City was transformed by locally based Hoffman Cortes Restoration into the Residences of West Paseo, a 46-unit affordable senior apartments. Construction began in 1914 on the Christian Church Hospital and was completed in 1916. The building was operated as a hospital until 1973 when the building was closed. Since then, neighbors reported ghost sightings at the vacant, dilapidated building, according to Charles Scammell, president of Hoffman Cortes Restoration, a subsidiary of Hoffman Cortes. "I've heard stories that people were seeing things in the middle of the night," he tells MHN.
Even Scammell experienced an unexplained occurrence. During the winter of 2005, Scammell went to the seven-story building by himself to investigate the scope of the interior work needed. He parked his car inside the garage and locked the entrance door. While touring the fifth floor, he heard his car's alarm. When he returned to the garage, he noticed that the lock had not been removed; yet an imprint of a fist had been made on the windshield of his car.
But following a massive rehabilitation effort, the new residents of the Residences of West Paseo have not reported any paranormal experiences, Scammell says. "Since it opened in May of 2006, we have heard nothing but positive comments from the new residents." As for the ghostly apparitions, Scammell believes, "maybe they moved to another part of town or they didn't exist."
Developed by Kansas City-based Cohen-Esry Development, the building had become 100 percent occupied in less than 100 days. Significant for its adaptation of Classical Revival architecture for an institutional building, the former hospital had been threatened by demolition after more than 30 years of abandonment, neglect and vandalism. "I can assure you that it was one of those buildings that when you walk inside, it made your hair stand up," he says.
The project included the complete restoration of all exterior masonry and terra–cotta features. The 1930s casement security windows were removed and replaced with reproductions of the original fenestration and exterior doors. Hoffman Cortes Restoration led this endeavor, while Gastinger Walker Harding Architects was the architect of record. "The ornamental terra-cotta was in shambles," Scammell says. "It had to be rebuilt and reconstructed. It was quite an undertaking."
All the original interior terrazzo floors have been restored. The second-floor entrance lobby and waiting rooms have been re-established with new marble walls and extensive plaster restoration. The skylights used to illuminate the original operating theatres have been reconstructed, as were the two exterior sixth-floor roof gardens.
Financing sources for the $11.5-million project included federal and state historic tax credits, federal and state rental housing tax credits, and industrial revenue bond financing. As part of the Beacon Hill redevelopment district, the building also received Missouri 353 property tax abatement.
The Residences of West Paseo has received a 2007 Preservation Award in June from the Historic Kansas City Foundation, dedicated to preserving the city’s historic architecture and cultural landscapes.
Haunted Hospital Restored
Haunted Hospital Restored
