Curious Jax: Hope Haven went from old roadhouse to stately white-brick building on Atlantic Boulevard – The Florida Times-Union

Hope Haven Children's Hospital began in 1926 in a former roadhouse near the Trout River. It moved to its landmark white brick facility at Atlantic Boulevard and Bartram Road in 1940. The building was demolished in 1994. An apartment complex now occupies the site.

Question: I know its been years ago, but I was wondering what happened to the land and building of the old Hope Haven Childrens Hospital on Atlantic Boulevard. I used to be a patient there in 1966-69. Is there another facility for their needs and can you tell me the hospitals history? J.G., Jacksonville

Dear J.G.: Hope Havens roots go back much further than the landmark white brick building on Atlantic and Bartram Road.

Indeed, it began in what might be considered the unlikeliest of places. A roadhouse, where the Trout River meets the St. Johns opposite the Jacksonville Zoo, was reborn as Hope Haven.

The long, low building first had been a home and then became the Panama Club, the towns undisputed hot spot for the movie crowd after it opened in 1911, according to Times-Union archives.

Giant magnolias stood in the handsome yard while Spanish moss framed a broad piazza. It was said to have the longest mahogany bar in the state. Drinks aside, master chefs prepared chicken dinners for guests.

Police described it in a 1914 story as notorious but not disreputable. A New York millionaire reportedly amused himself and six female guests by pouring champagne on the floor of a private dining room until it ran ankle deep.

By 1926 its heyday had passed, the Duval County Tuberculosis Association acquired the property, took out the mahogany bar and spent $14,000 remodeling it. It was near the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, and its new use was as a preventorium and convalescent home for malnourished and tubercular children.

It wasnt long before a larger and better-equipped facility was needed.

But it took almost a decade to raise enough money to finally get an accredited child-care hospital built, attorney William Goodman said in a 1970 Times-Union story.

That new facility was the result of a solemn vow Goodman made. Goodman, who became known statewide as Mr. Hope Haven, helped create the hospital with a group of friends.

Goodman served the hospital without pay for 40 years. His mission began in 1930 when he was told he would not live overnight and that if he did live, he probably would be a vegetable and a cripple.

Goodman had suffered near-fatal injuries while going on a hunting trip with several friends. The car swerved off the road at a curve, and the driver had what Goodman called fright paralysis. The car ran through a wooded area at nearly 60 mph and plunged into a drainage ditch. Goodman managed to crawl out. He had five fractured lumbar vertebrae.

For a year I was a cripple in Riverside Hospital, and I made a solemn promise to the Almighty that if I ever got well, I would devote all the rest of my lifes spare time caring somehow for the disabled and the crippled.

Despite doctors dire predictions, Goodman told them he would not only survive, but would walk again.

Shortly before Christmas of that year, children from Hope Haven were brought by bus to Riverside Hospital. They went to his room, sang carols and touched his heart.

He began making plans to fulfill his vow. Back on his feet, he launched a fundraising campaign and conducted a survey for a site. He and the group he assembled agreed on Atlantic Boulevard where 10 acres were available for $4,000. The group established Hope Haven Foundation with Florida National Bank as the trustee. Goodman was vice president and a director of the bank for 25 years.

The new buildings first two wings were dedicated primarily to treating children with polio and bone diseases, according to information from the Hope Haven Foundation. By the 1960s, when the Salk vaccine began to stem the tide of polio victims, Hope Haven had treated more than 20,000 patients.

It was the Souths first hospital devoted entirely to child care, Goodman told The Times-Union.

The majority of patients were referred by doctors and came from all parts of Florida, south Georgia and southern Alabama. In the 1970 story, he said no sick child had ever been turned away.

There were two academic classrooms, tutors for bedridden students, a shop class and arts and crafts projects available to the children.

At age 10, Amy Pyatt-Buggle would go with her mother, an original Hope Haven auxiliary member, to the hospital during the summers and volunteer. At that time, there was a wing that was dedicated to United Cerebral Palsy, she said. Pyatt-Buggle, who later founded DLC Nurse and Learn, recalls the swimming pool where the children could exercise their arms and legs and the facilitys big auditorium that was partitioned into classrooms.

The hospital had no trouble attracting notable visitors. Among them were Snoopy, gymnast Bart Conner, the Beach Boys, the band Molly Hatchet, the Cookie Monster from Holiday on Ice and folk singers Peter, Paul & Mary. In 1978 then-Gov. Bob Graham worked there for a day and sang Ten Little Indians in sign language.

The late pediatrician Richard Skinner, who worked with patients there, said in a Times-Union story that one of his biggest accomplishments was getting the staff to increase visiting hours.

As community needs changed, Hope Haven adjusted as well, providing general medical and surgical care for its young patients. Eventually a child-care complex was grouped around the main hospital. It also treated and diagnosed eye diseases, neurological and mental health problems and endocrine and metabolic disorders.

Over the years, some children spent a year or more at the hospital while others were there months, weeks, days or overnight.

In 1980, with major changes occurring in the health care system, Hope Haven limited itself to outpatient services. In 1981 the Nemours Foundation purchased the landmark hospital and a couple of name changes later established what became known as Nemours Childrens Specialty Care.

Nemours physicians practice at Wolfson Children's Hospital, which is owned and operated by Baptist Health.

The late pediatric physician Albert Wilkinson Jr. has been credited with former colleagues as the driving force behind an alliance between Nemours and Wolfson. In 1985 Nemours announced it would cease operations as a children's hospital and become a multi-specialty children's clinic, with Wilkinson as its founding medical director. It soon relocated downtown near Wolfson.

In 1990 the Hope Haven facility was sold. It moved into what became known as Hope Haven Childrens Clinic and Family Center at 4600 Beach Blvd., where it now serves as an outpatient facility for children with a range of educational, developmental and mental health concerns, according to its website.

Hope Haven was torn down in 1994. But the long-vacant property became the focus of an intense neighborhood battle. In 2003 the City Council voted to rezone the land for a 40,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market open 24 hours a day. But many nearby residents opposed the project. In 2004 a state judge ruled it did not meet city planning requirements, a decision upheld by the 1st District Court of Appeal. Wal-Mart subsequently sold the land.

Magnolia Village Apartments are now located where the old hospital once stood.

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Curious Jax: Hope Haven went from old roadhouse to stately white-brick building on Atlantic Boulevard - The Florida Times-Union