That was Then and This is Now — Plus Four Dates in October
Where were you in the mid-1960s? Did you live in the community? Were you a student or a member of the staff? Did you hear the loud noises emanating from the parcel of land at the corner of Barton Road and Campus Street and wonder what kind of heavy equipment was operating behind the security fence? Do the new hospitals of 2019 bring back memories of a time when life was less hectic and you and your friends were awed by the concretes cloverleaf towers rising from the ground where there was once a citrus orchard?
Upon this Land
In 1961, a large citrus grove (fronted by Anderson Street to the west and Barton Road to the north and Campus Street to the east and Prospect Avenue to the south) was scheduled to be uprooted and burned as part of the make-ready process in preparing the land for the construction of a new multi-story state-of-the-art hospital. The above image shows that large parcel(s) with the one (1) being the corner of Anderson Street and Barton Road. Two (2) is the corner of Barton Road and Campus Street. Numbers three (3) and ten (10) is the orchard, which would give way to construction. Number four (4) is Prospect Avenue that crossed Anderson Street. Number five (5) was the future site for the power plant. Number six (6) represents the corner of Taylor Street (east to west) and Taylor Court (north to south. Currently, at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Taylor Court (4) traffic turns left into the main entrance of the existing Medical Center. After the Transformation project is completed, which will include minor rerouting of the drop-off area and turnaround, the entrance will remain the same. Number seven (7) is where a new emergency generator plant is being constructed to meet the needs of the new complex. Number eight (8) is the intersection of Anderson Street and Prospect Avenue. This intersection will serve as the north, south, and east ingress and egress traffic for patients (non-emergency) and visitors. Emergency ingress and egress will off of Barton Road between Anderson Street and Campus Street. Number nine (9) was where the “Mary M” apartments were located, and razed during the make-ready phase to make room for the construction of the new complex, which now sits on number ten (10), The above image, along with the featured image and the four dates in October photos will put this whole project in context.
Four Dates in October After the Project Began
Do you remember where were you four years ago? If you were around the Loma Linda campus, do you remember the sounds of the big machine and wonder what was going on behind the security fences?
October 21, 2016: We were all somewhat intimidated by the large hole in the ground, which at that time had not reached subgrade. When would we be done “playing in the dirt?”October 16, 2017: When I snapped this image, the cloverleaf towers of the Medical Center still reigned supreme over the construction site, the campus, and the surrounding communities. During this phase of construction, I remember looking at the Medical Center towers above grade and the base isolators below grade and wondered how this project was going to come together. I had the artist renderings of the new hospital towers in my mind’s eye, but yet, it was too early in the process for me to meld the present with the future. October 25, 2018: By this time, the steel towers were beginning to rival the cloverleaf towers of the medical center. October 24, 2019: The Medical Center is obscured by the three (3) towers: the ten (10) story Children’s Hospital tower (left); the 18-story elevator tower in the center; and the 17-story Adult Hospital tower.
And in Conclusion — Putting it All together
Circa 1961, That was before when the land was planted with citrus trees sans a strip of land on the southwest corner of Anderson Street and Prospect Avenue where the “Mary M” apartments stood. Loma Linda University Health: 1964, that was then; 2019, this is now! What a difference 55-years makes. Do you remember the citrus grove that is in the first image? Can you identify all of the other changes that have taken place over the years?
After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨
i lived in Loma Linda in 1961 on Starr Street in a little house behind my grandparents. We did the walk from Burden hall to the New University Church. My dad would take my brother and I over to the New Hospital after church every Sabbath.
Question, did the Old New hospital have all the things like drinking water storage, waste water storage, and emergency water storage. Of course we didn’t have the internet to watch the building go up then.
i lived in Loma Linda in 1961 on Starr Street in a little house behind my grandparents. We did the walk from Burden hall to the New University Church. My dad would take my brother and I over to the New Hospital after church every Sabbath.
Question, did the Old New hospital have all the things like drinking water storage, waste water storage, and emergency water storage. Of course we didn’t have the internet to watch the building go up then.