Editing Tower East

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{{Infobox Building
|image=PensacolaHospital1.jpg
|caption=
|name=Pensacola Hospital (now Tower East)
|location=1010 North [[12th Avenue]])
|architect=[[A. O. von Herbulis]]
|client=[[Daughters of Charity]]
|engineer=Evans Brothers Construction
|owner=Tower East Group, Inc.
|construction_start_date=
|completion_date=September [[1915]]
|renovations=
|date_demolished=
|cost=$400,000
|structural_system=
|style=Gothic Revival
|size=
|mapcode=<googlemap lat="30.42626" lon="-87.202488" zoom="17" width="288" height="288">
30.426247, -87.202858, Tower East
</googlemap>
}}
'''Tower East''' is the current name of original '''Pensacola Hospital''' building (and also called the '''Old Sacred Heart Hospital''' building). It is located at 1010 North [[12th Avenue]].

The hospital opened in September [[1915]] as the first Catholic hospital in Florida. The [[Daughters of Charity]], a religious order dating back to 1633, invested over $400,000 into building and opening this facility. Evans Brothers Construction, of Birmingham, Alabama, took one year to build this late Gothic Revival building for the Daughters to provide the residents of Pensacola with better health care.

This structure is both a medical and architectural landmark. Before this hospital, Pensacola had only a scattering of local clinics in converted houses.  Doctors would send patients with serious cases as far away as New Orleans for complicated procedures not available in Pensacola.  With this facility, Pensacola had the first surgical, radiological, bacterial, and therapeutic facilities in Florida.  Following the Daughters of Charity motto of "service to all", the third level of the east wing was dedicated entirely to the Creole and colored population so that they could also receive hospital care.  [[A. O. von Herbulis]], a native of Austria who immigrated to the United States, designed the hospital.  Using the vocabulary of English Gothic architecture, with elements such as the Tudor arches on the ends, the stone work around the front entrance, and the battlement at the parapet, von Herbulis created a lasting monument to health care.

In [[1948]], following the original desire of Mother [[Margaret O'Keefe]], Pensacola Hospital's name changed to [[Sacred Heart Hospital]] of Pensacola. In [[1965]], the hospital moved its operations to North [[Ninth Avenue]]. After the hospital left, a private school for Liberal Arts used the building from [[1969]] through [[1978]], but lack of maintenance forced the school to abandon the building. Tower East Group, Inc., a private enterprise owned by partners [[B. Neal Armstrong]] and [[Stephen F. Ritz]], purchased the property in March [[1980]]. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on [[February 16]], [[1982]].

The public areas are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, for touring.  The building has several restaurants and a local theater company, as well as many private offices.

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[[Category:National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:Hospitals]]