History & Design
The Delmar DivINe is located at the site of the former St. Luke’s Hospital and, more recently, Connect Care. This historic building, with sections built during the 1904 World’s Fair, has always been a benefit to the community. Closed to the public in 2014, the renovated space reflects a 21st century approach to holistic and inclusive community well-being.
A space designed for innovation, Delmar DivINe offers a gathering place to collaborate, work, play and create. Delmar DivINe brings together social service agencies previously scattered throughout the region in a collaborative shared space, providing an uplifting environment, retail services, and housing along with easy access to public transit. As a result, social innovators are able to get to solutions faster while being more cost efficient.
Divided by Design
The “Delmar Divide” seems like a permanent aspect of St. Louis, but that is not so. The book History of St. Louis Neighborhoods notes that the name Delmar was coined when two early landowners living on opposite sides of the road, one from Delaware and one from Maryland, combined the names of their home states. As time passed, the city expanded westward and became more diverse.
The African American population in particular grew, becoming over 6% of the total population. In reaction to this, a housing law was passed in 1916 that prevented anyone of a particular race/ethnicity from buying a house in a community where more than 75% of another race/ethnicity lived. This law remained in effect until 1948 when the Supreme Court overturned it.
1904
As the former home of a major hospital, the site where Delmar Divine now sits has always been a place committed to the care of its community. Founded on February 28, 1866, by a group of concerned Episcopalians (and joined in ministry by the Presbyterians in 1948), St. Luke’s Hospital relocated to the modern hospital building at 5535 Delmar on April 23, 1904 in time for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The “E” shaped design was intentional and strategic, intended to always be the heart of the campus that would be expanded to include a nursing school, dormitories, and a medical office building. The hospital was built for $425,000, an astronomical amount at that time.
1952
The surrounding neighborhood of St. Luke’s was troubled with low population and a decline in property values in the 1950s. However, St. Luke’s stayed a prominent force in the neighborhood as it employed residents, kept the area well trafficked, and held programs at surrounding high schools, like Soldan Highschool. The Fowler Wing’s corner stone was laid in 1954. This wing provided 100 more beds for St. Luke’s and increased their x-ray and surgery capacity.
1960
Beginning in 1951, newer and larger sections were added, completely changing the appearance with a new facade on Delmar in 1969. Among the new facilities are a new nurse’s home and school in 1959, and an adjoining medical office building in 1964. The St. Luke’s Nursing School, which had its first graduating class in 1892, encouraged young women to get involved with medicine.
1965
In 1968 courts ruled that segregated housing was illegal, although it continued to be practiced in a more subtle way. Neighborhoods were “red-lined” by realtors and politicians; therefore African Americans were sold housing in certain areas.
1968
Famous St. Louisans such as Henry Shaw, Robert Brookings, Edward Mallinckrodt and Donald Danforth held significant Board of Directors positions over the years and were benefactors as St. Luke’s grew and prospered. In 1972 the cornerstone was laid for St. Luke’s West in St. Louis County and formal plans for a second location began in earnest. St. Luke’s operated the East Hospital on Delmar until the early 1980s, after which it became Charter Hospital with the intention to serve the city after the closing of City Hospital and Homer G. Phillips Hospital. It subsequently became ConnectCare in 1997, serving as a safety net health facility until it also closed at the end of 2013. Now its future is once again bright as Delmar DivINe and its community of nonprofit agencies serve the St. Louis metro area.