It's Finally Happening; Ground Breaking At St. Anthony's Amarillo

Earlier today, something that a lot of people have been waiting on for what seems like a long time finally happened. It is something that has been talked about for years.

A ground breaking ceremony was finally held at St. Anthony's in Amarillo.

Amarillo Landmark Sees New Life

St. Anthony's is an iconic piece of Amarillo history. The architecture is beautiful. There is a ton of history in those walls. Stories range from people being born in that hospital, to ghost stories, and everything between.

A lot of Amarillo residents rejoiced when it was announced that St. Anthony's would be getting a new lease on life, so to speak. Finally, this iconic piece of Amarillo would get some of the TLC it deserved.

Ground Breaking For The Commons

The project is referred to as The Commons at St. Anthony's. It will be a senior living apartment complex.

According to a press release put out earlier today, it will have 124 units of "high-quality, affordable rental housing for seniors in Amarillo."

Construction is slated to start this month, and will take a while to complete. However, when it's done, one of the oldest buildings in Amarillo will begin its next chapter.

What To Expect At The Commons

The press release states that there will be studio, one, and two-bedroom units available. Also available will be community gathering areas, fitness and business centers, gardens, and outdoor courtyards for residents to enjoy.

This is fantastic news for the landmark that has sat empty for decades. The plan is for The Commons to open in the summer of 2024.

The Abandoned St. Anthony's Hospital on Amarillo Boulevard

The 119-year-old abandoned hospital is a fascinating place for any who are lucky enough to be granted the chance to explore.

The sprawling building saw thousands of Amarillo's citizens inside its halls daily, all the the way until it was shuttered in 2001. But there are still incredible artifacts of the all-too-recent past tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the old St. Anthony.

The explorer who took these photographs gave the following information:

"Many rooms were left untouched, we found patient files, old prescriptions, a blood transfusion machine from the 60s, and microscopic slides of breast cancer from the 70s and 80s. I put one picture in here of some heart scans so you can see the dates and diagnosis of the patient, but marked out the patient’s names of course. During a time when mental illness was not understood, 76 exorcisms were documented to have been performed between 1909 and 1931."

Take a look inside the halls of the legendary abandoned St. Anthony's hospital

The Derelict Beauty of Amarillo's Abandoned Buildings

What is it about abandoned buildings tempts our imagination? Perhaps it's the fact that all of these places were once alive at one point of time. All of these buildings were once a part of everyday life.

But as they are now, they are empty and barren. All we have left of these abandoned properties in Amarillo are memories left to the echoes of time.

Source: It’s Finally Happening; Ground Breaking At St. Anthony’s Amarillo