Once Abandoned And Left To Decay, The Edgewater Medical Center In Illinois Has Been Restored To Its Former Glory
By Linze Rice|Published March 21, 2023
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Linze Rice
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Ope! From the rural cornfields of DeKalb County, Linze is an Illinois native and true Midwestern gal who can make a mean bonfire and whip up a perfect marshmallow salad. Since 2014, her bylines and photography have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, and Block Club Chicago/DNAinfo Chicago, Only in Your State, and more. She has interviewed Dolly Parton, written about beloved diners along historic Route 66, visited the last Rainforest Cafe in the Illinois, and reviewed luxurious English manor-inspired hotels. Whether it's writing about a local gem or world-renowned establishment, Linze brings a heartwarming and historical perspective to each story, using facts, wit, and personal experience to impress upon readers the importance of culture, food, travel, and all things local. Her favorite destinations in Illinois include Starved Rock State Park, Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, the charming small town of Sycamore, and historic Rosehill Cemetery. When she's not writing or photographing, Linze enjoys gardening, spending time with her husband and pets, cooking, baking, and grilling, and relaxing with trashy TV.
When an old chair is past its prime, it can be tossed in the trash, donated, or repainted and restored to new life. With such a small object, there are options. But what about a historic building the size of a city block that’s no longer in use? It could be demolished, or, with some luck, repurposed and transformed into a new era. Take, for example, this once-abandoned building in Chicago, Illinois that went from decay to decor.
In 1929, the Edgewater Hospital was opened by Dr. Maurice Mazel on Chicago's Far North Side at 5700 N. Ashland Ave.
Originally, it was a reputable hospital with state-of-the-art equipment, white-glove service, and well-trained doctors who were known to offer first-class service to its patients.
But after Mazel died in 1980, the hospital's new owner began a decades-long campaign of financial fraud and terrifyingly unethical behavior — like performing unnecessary surgeries that sometimes killed people and recruiting vulnerable people from the public to take part in the schemes.
The campus later became known as the Edgewater Medical Center.
In 2001, several hospital administrators and doctors were convicted for the ruse and the building abruptly closed — leaving behind nearly everything as if it were frozen in time. Medical records, machinery, and medications all remained inside, and the site quickly became a favorite (but dangerous) place for photographers and explorers to capture.
After years of laying in open ruin, a developer eventually bought the property with the idea of repurposing the site into apartment buildings and a park. Demolition of some of the hospital's campus buildings began in 2017 and lasted about a year due to the hazardous conditions inside.
Two of the hospital's main buildings were able to be salvaged enough to transform them into 155 apartment units under the new name of Anderson Point. The structure is located in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago.
Billing itself as "historically modern," the buildings today look like an updated version of their past life, with original terra cotta details blending in with a fresh coat of paint to showcase a fresh facade. One interesting feature is the former catwalk hallway that connected two hospital buildings now serves as a balcony for some of the units.
Each apartment comes with a floating kitchen island and tall concrete ceilings, and some units contain washers and dryers. And, just like each hospital room had a window, each apartment has a view of the city and neighborhood.
