Richmond Community Hospital Building

Photo: Selden Richardson's "Built by Blacks"

February 27, 2024

Richmond Community Hospital Building
Virginia Union University
1209 Overbrook Road

Richmond Community Hospital, also known as the Sarah Jones Memorial Hospital, was designed by Edward F. Sinnott Sr. in the Art Deco style and constructed by the John T. Wilson Company. Its construction in 1932 was the culmination of five years of fundraising, part of a citywide appeal to bring the woefully inadequate healthcare facilities for Richmond Blacks up to modern standards. Although this hospital was far too small to serve the thousands of African Americans who lived in Richmond, its construction during the depths of the Depression was a point of pride. The building was transferred to Virginia Union University in 1980 when the hospital moved to a modern facility in Church Hill in 1980, and has remained vacant since then.

VUU recently announced that impact investing firm Steinbridge Group will invest approximately $40 million in VUU, empowering them to develop underutilized parcels of land for commercial and residential uses. The initial sites slated for development are University-owned parcels where Steinbridge will develop 130-200 market rate and affordable residential homes. According to Richmond Bizsense, and shared on the Steinbridge Group website, “the 1930s-era hospital building, which the university said is no longer usable, would apparently be razed to make way for the new buildings.”

Historic Richmond has heard from a number of community members who are concerned about the potential demolition of this historic building. We believe that 1) this building has a significant story to tell, with significant architectural, historical and cultural value, 2) the community wants to see it saved, and 3) there could be several viable plans for saving it. We have reached out to VUU’s President and the Steinbridge Group to offer, if they would give us access to the building, to pull together a team of volunteer architects, engineers and construction experts to assess the building’s condition and alternatives for incorporating it into the larger project plans. To read our offer letter, click here.

For those of you who are looking for ways to help save the Community Hospital building, we suggest the following:

Reach out to VUU leadership to let them know about how important it is.
Reach out to Richmond City leadership to let them know (1) you care about the Community Hospital building and would like to see it saved, and that (2) Richmond’s historic places and cultural sites are important and deserve protection. Names and contact info are listed below.
Attend one of the Open Houses for the City’s Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan on Wednesday, 2/28 (12-2 at Main Library, and 5-7 at Hickory Hill) to provide feedback on the importance of saving historic resources like the Community Hospital.

Here is a list of city leadership and their email addresses:

Levar M. Stoney, Mayor

Richmond Community Hospital Building

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