In response to Mayo Clinic growth, the Kahler Corp. remodeled the Kelly Hotel at 124 First Ave. N.W. and opened Stanley Hospital in 1917 to alleviate crowding in nearby Colonial Hospital.
Today, modifying an old structure for a new purpose is called "adaptive reuse."
The building was named after Dr. Henry Stanley Plummer and primarily housed medical and obstetrics patients. In 1920, it provided 61 beds, a nursery, delivery room and two laboratories. In 1919, Dr. Russell Wilder pioneered diabetic therapy studies in a new clinical research laboratory in the Stanley, and Mayo’s first diet kitchen was located there. The facility closed as a hospital in 1921 and housed nursing students and classrooms until 1967, when it was replaced by an employee parking ramp.
Note the former Armory, now the Senior Citizen Center, behind each structure in the photos.
Next week: How about those Tigers?
