A Brief Timeline of the Charles Camsell Hospital and Site
1913 — The original building on the site, a Jesuit college, is constructed
1942 — The building is taken over by the U.S. Army and was used for personel employed in the North, including those constructing the Alaska highway. Several small wooden outbuildings are constructed.
1944 — The Alaska Highway is completed and the American Army vacates the site.
1944 — The site becomes the Edmonton Military Hospital
1946 — Charles Camsell Hospital, operated by the Department of Indian and Eskimo Affairs, opens for the specific purpose of treating tuberculosis in Aboriginal patients of the West and North.
1946-1967 — Hospital operates a controversial occupational therapy program for aboriginal patients, serves as a tuberculosis hospital, and is widely known as “The Indian Hospital”
1967 — The current hospital structure is built. Patients are moved into the building on July 11 and the “official” opening is October 10.
1970s — Hospital becomes a general treatment hospital
1980 — Hospital is transfered to provincial jurisdiction
1996 — Hospital is closed and building is left vacant
2004 — Site is purchased by local architect and developer Gene Dub (along with partners) for $3.6 million
2005 — Redevelopment plan for 862 units is rejected by community
2006 — A fire in the building (accidentally caused by demolition crews) proves challenging for firefighters because stairwells and other access routes have been blocked with barbed wire and fencing to deter vandals. A stop work order is issued.
Summer 2008 — All outbuilding are razed, leaving only the original hospital building on the site
Dec 15, 2008 — Land is rezoned and redevelopment plan for 594 units is approved by City Council
May 2010 — Edmonton Journal story explains that Dub cannot afford the renovation to the site, and that work will continue as he can finance it.
2011 — The Inglewood Echo reports that new working name for the site is “Inglewood Gardens” (“watch for the sign coming soon”). Capital continues to be an issue for Dub.
January 2012 — This photo project begins