By Worcester P. Bong

Between 1931 and 1950, the Veterans Administration (VA) built and renovated numerous rural hospitals, and in 1931, it acquired the old hospital/sanatorium complex on the former Fort Whipple grounds in Prescott as part of that effort. Until then, the complex served as a U.S. Army hospital and U.S. Veterans Bureau hospital.
 

It became the fourth-largest VA facility in the United States with the most complete tuberculosis sanatorium. The VA’s mission with the complex was to provide rapid rehabilitation and healing through modern medical facilities, therapies, medicines and surgical techniques in order to return veterans to productive civilian lives.
 

The main building (Building 107) was part of that effort. Funding to construct the four-story, V-shaped administration and hospital building with mess hall and kitchen was approved in 1937. The main hospital was designed to accommodate up to 200 patients. The demolition of old tuberculosis wards began, and by February 1938, the hospital and dining room foundations were started. Approximately 300 to 400 men worked on the construction. The architectural style of the main hospital was Spanish Colonial Revival with smooth plaster construction, a hipped roof with towers, symmetrically placed windows and elaborate three-dimensional cast concrete ornaments.
 

In a November 4, 1938 article, the Prescott Evening Courier reported on the construction: “[T]he main administrative/clinical building consist[s] of a four-story center section with two wings. The second, referred to as a subsistence building, will house the dining, kitchen, and dishwashing facilities … A penthouse in the center forms the fifth floor for general surgery operations … A ground floor beneath the main floor of one wing will house therapy treatment rooms, along with facilities for X-ray and other laboratories. A complete pharmacy, eye-ear-and-nose laboratory, and emergency operating rooms also will be placed on the main floor. The second, third and fourth floors in all sections will be devoted to beds for patients ...”
 

Funding was awarded later in November for a new entry off Ash Fork Highway (present-day Highway 89) to the VA hospital campus. It was completed around March 1939 and remains the main entry point. The old gate (it was at Yavapai College near the Performing Arts Center) and road off East Sheldon Street were used as a service entrance and later closed.
 

Construction on the main hospital was finished in May 1939 at a cost of $750,000. The project underwent three strikes, two by carpenters and one by plumbers and sheet metal workers. The plumbers and sheet metal workers disagreed on which trade had jurisdiction to install sheet lead shielding on the walls of the X-ray rooms. All strikes were eventually settled in a timely manner.
 

The September 15, 1939 issue of the Prescott Evening Courier describes the new hospital as “Beautiful in every detail, modern steel spring furniture and furnishings are found throughout, the floors are of beautiful tile, and electrical fixtures are the latest manufactured. Wards are designed for the comfort and care of the patient.” On October 30, 1939, veterans who were patients were relocated into the new hospital building.
 

Eighty years of history since then have brought many renovations to the main hospital building; however, there are still signs of its original interior finishes, including terrazzo floors in the corridor, decorative tile work and ornate railings. Part of the hospital’s second floor still has a 1970’s look with orange and dark chocolate colors, one of the reasons its interior was chosen as a backdrop for the 2019 movie “Wish Man” about Frank Shankwitz, co-founder of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Prescott resident.
 

Today the main hospital building remains the centerpiece at the VA Medical Center campus (now named after U.S. Congressman Bob Stump of Arizona).

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at https://www.sharlot.org/articles/days-past-articles.l. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org. Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 2, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.