Originally built to treat employees of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, the Santa Fe Hospital opened in 1926 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Expanding over a city block (2.3 acres), including three separate buildings totaling 47,000 square feet, the hospital changed its name in the 1940’s. It continued to provide acute care services in the community until 1982. In the 1980’s, a group of psychiatrists converted the facility into a mental health institution and changed the name to Memorial Hospital.

Memorial Hospital offered acute psychiatric services to children and teens (male and female), as well as a residential treatment center for children between 5 and 11 years old.

The 58 inpatient and 13 treatment beds remained open until 2007.  At the time, not only was the hospital listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was appraised at about $4.6 million in value.

The facility remained empty until a group of Santa Fe investors transformed the 1920’s, Italianate architecture style building into the Hotel Parq Central, a boutique hotel in the “EDo” (east of downtown) district.

The 74-room hotel opened in September 2010. The front of the hotel still features a restored grand staircase. Frames, sashes, jams, and the tile below the circa 1920s windows were also salvaged.

Although the city lost a hospital, the renovations created 200 jobs, and the hotel employs 52 people.

Photographs by LiveJournal.com and Alibi.com.