Miner's Union Hospital

Miner's Union Hospital. . , The Architecture and the Architect , The Miner's Union Hospital Building was completed in 1908 at a cost of approximately $35,000. The building is of great importance to Silverton's architectural heritage, designated as a contributing structure within Silverton's National Historic Landmark district. The building was designed by Frank Edbrooke, known as the Dean of Denver Architecture, and one of Colorado's greatest 19th and early 20th-century architects. Edbrooke's design for the Hospital is Italianate Revival, a style of architecture popular at the turn of the 20th century. The building's low pitched hip roof with decorative cupola, and wide overhangs and bracketed eaves, high-fired brick walls, rusticated sandstone masonry foundation are some of the character defining elements that Edbrooke adopted from the Italianate style's vocabulary. Edbrooke created a statement of Silverton's prosperity with his design of the Miner's Union Hospital, exemplifying the strength and influence of the Mining Labor Union in a remote Western mining community. , Preservation of the Hospital , The restoration of the building included three phases of work, and construction totaled approximately $1.1 million. Funding for the project was raised through a series of matching grants. The balance of the funding for the project came from History Colorado's State Historical fund, the Department of Local Affairs, and cash match donations from the Gates Family Foundation and San Juan County's historic building preservation Mill Levy. , The original wood floors, plaster walls and ceilings, and interior wood trim throughout the building were restored and refinished. Period lighting fixtures were installed throughout the building, along with new electrical systems, communication and data infrastructure, and a modern fire and smoke detection system. A critical need for handicap access to serve the public healthcare facilities of the County's Nursing Program was also included in the building's restoration. This included the installation of an elevator core within the existing building's floor plan, and the sympathetic design and installation of a handicap accessible ramp along the west elevation. The large exterior wood doors, double-hung wood windows, and the hard-pressed brick and decorative limestone masonry were also restored during the project. , Adaptive Re-use of the Hospital , Today, the building is owned and operated by San Juan County and preserves a continuity of its original use as the community's primary health care facility. The second floor houses the offices of the County nurse, a laboratory, an X-ray room, and rooms to see patients. San Juan County also provides space in the building for other visiting medical practitioners, such as a visiting psychiatrist, an acupuncturist and podiatrist. In addition, the County's Office of Emergency Management, a law office, the transmitter office for KSUT Public Radio, and incubator office spaces for small local businesses and non-profits are located in the Miner's Union Hospital. , The Miner’s Union Establishes a Modern Hospital , Silverton Miner's Union, Local #26, was formed in 1894 by the Western Federation of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers shortly after the Silver Panic of 1893, to counter the lowering of wages and the increasing of hours by mine owners. By 1907 the mining industry had stabilized, and San Juan County was producing millions of dollars of gold and silver! The Union was at its peak membership when the Miner's Union built the hospital. The basement was designed to have private residential quarters to house the doctor's family, a kitchen and dining room, and laundry. The first floor and second floors housed wards with private rooms, doctor's offices and an operating room on the third-floor level. The operating room still retains its large solarium windows. Almost every miner in the community was a Union man, and charitable events involving their families were a significant source of fund-raising for the hospital's construction and equipment. , “Wherever the Art of Medicine is Loved, , there is also a Love of Humanity.” , Hippocrates 400 BC. , Interpretive sign by D. Singer 2022 , This project was funded in part through a grant from the State Historical Fund