| Photo by Brian Luenser |
Driving down Lancaster Avenue into downtown, you might not notice this historic building sitting on the street's north side. But, take a closer look, and you'll see Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian travertine, and green terracotta roof tiles. The design, which caught the camera lens of photographer Brian Luenser in August 2014, is thanks to designer, Wiley G. Clarkson, and builder, Harry B. Friedman, who also worked together on the Masonic Temple across the street.
The building, located at 1212 West Lancaster Ave., originally opened as W.I. Cook Memorial Hospital in 1929 as a medical facility that offered services to all. The mission of the hospital was altered to care exclusively for children when the polio epidemic spread to the United States in 1952. It became Cook Children's Hospital, as we know it today, after merging with Fort Worth Children's Hospital in 1985. Subsequently, 1212 Lancaster was purchased by HealthSouth, and it serves as a rehabilitation hospital today.