VUU’s decision follows a court order filed on October 22, 2024, by former city councilor Sa’ad El-Amin
Yesterday, October 23th, Hakim Lukas, president of Virginia Union, announced a 180 degree reversal of the university's previous decision to tear down the old Richmond Community Hospital building at 1209 Overbrook Road in Richmond.(1)
"We have listened closely as the community has spoken throughout the year,” said Lukas, hours after former city councilor, Sa’ad El-Amin, filed a lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court. (2)
El-Amin argued that when the hospital moved to Church Hill and gave its old property to the university, VUU became legally responsible for its upkeep. He also claimed that selling the property would violate the university’s nonprofit status.(3)
The 1932 Art Deco building is one of two of the original 150 Black hospitals built during the Black Hospital Movement. According to Dr. Wm. Fergusson Reid, Sr., a physician and medical consultant who was employed at Richmond Community Hospital, the other remaining hospital is the Freedmens Hospital in Washington DC, built in 1909 on Bryant Street, NW. Today Freedmens is part of Howard University Hospital. A section within the old building, Freedmens Hall, is devoted to the history of medical education and health care at Howard University.(4)
Much of the success in saving the historic old building on Overbrook is due to efforts by community activism led by Viola Baskerville and Farid Alan Schintzuis, who formed ‘Save Community Hospital,‘ and efforts by Sheldon Richardson to persuade VUU to list it in the National Registry of Historic Places.
Video created by RVA Magazine publisher R. Anthony Harris
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