Genn Hospital

Genn Hospital 1921-1969

The Genn Hospital was built as a permanent solution to replace a temporary hospital built in Wamego in 1915. Originally referred to as “Wamego Hospital” when it came down to officially selecting a name “Genn Hospital” was decided on. This was to honor Josiah Thomas (JT) Genn, a local farmer and building philanthropist who donated $10,000 for the erection of a new hospital.

The one stipulation he had was that the community matched his donation, they successfully raised an additional $11,000 for the construction of a hospital. Amongst the instrumental persons with helping get the 590 donors to contribute was O.B. Larson, C.E. Simpson, K.D. Doyle and Mayor S.W. Jenkins. S.W. Forrester, an oil magnate, bought the site.

Renowned architect W.E. Glover, who had previously done buildings all over Kansas including the Security Benefit Association Campus, was brought on to design the building. His plans called for a $25,000 brick structure with two stories. Bids were due by March 29, 1920, and the selected winner of the contract was Arthur Burkhardt.

Work started later that year and was done by day laborers. The Hospital Committee oversaw the construction from the beginning to the end. The senior class of WHS agreed to pay for the furnishings of a room in the hospital. Come January of 1921 the $25,000 hospital was completed and ready to open.

Over the next 40 years, the hospital served the Wamego community well providing many with the care they needed. But the city of Wamgeo was growing and on average 10.6 patients visited the hospital every day and that number was expected to keep rising. It also did not meet the standard building and fire codes that were necessary for occupational safety. So a new Wamego City Hospital was built in 1969 and the Genn Hospital was vacated.

Apartments 1970-2019

After the opening of the new hospital the Genn Hospital was no longer needed. But letting the hospital become abandoned wasn’t an option for the community, they put their heads together to find a good reuse for the building. Work was done to convert the 25-room hospital into 10 apartments.

They served the community as apartments for almost fifty years until May 17, 2019. A fire broke out in the building, all residents were able to exit safely but there were animal casualties. There was damage to Apartment No. 2, smoke damage to all apartments and then water damage to the basement. Residents were allowed back in to get important belongings before being taken to a hotel.

512 Spruce Apartments 2024- Present

Frontier Development Group began discussions with the previous owner in 2020 about purchasing the building. They continued with those discussions until successfully getting the building in their possession in 2022. Frontier is up and coming in the world of historic development and has done many buildings across the state including Cottonwood Falls School.

Despite multiple alterations, Frontier was able to successfully list the building on the Kansas Register of Historic Places and qualify the project for both MIH and KHITC awards. Additionally, the south parcel was replatted to allow for a new construction ADA duplex.

The restoration and new construction were completed in Fall of 2024 with all apartments being occupied almost immediately. A grand opening was held and Wamego celebrated the saving of another historic building by Frontier Development Group.

Gallery Below of Genn Hospital

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