{"nrhp_refnum":"02001001","name":"Medical Arts Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2901 West Avenue","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newport News (Independent City)","county":"Newport News","state":"VA","lat":36.979858999000044,"lon":-76.43409238499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story, red brick medical office building at 2901 West Avenue (corner of 29th Avenue) in Newport News, Virginia, built in 1928 and designed by architect Charles M. Robinson.","why_significant":"It is significant locally under Criterion C in architecture as a prominent office building and one of the few historic buildings left in downtown Newport News. It is also tied to Charles M. Robinson, a prolific Virginia architect who designed few buildings in the city. It retains a high degree of architectural integrity.","narrative":"Rising four stories at the corner of West Avenue and 29th Avenue in Newport News, this red brick building was completed in 1928 to house doctors, dentists, attorneys and shops. Architect Charles M. Robinson gave it a classically inspired design, with a nine-bay front, a denticulated metal cornice, a pediment over the projecting center section, and a decorative entrance with a traceried fanlight, niches, festoons and pilasters. Inside, a terrazzo-floored lobby leads to an original attendant-operated Otis elevator and upper floors of small offices and waiting rooms. The first floor held a pharmacy and an optical company. Originally a prosperous residential district, West Avenue lost much of its early fabric over time, leaving this building among the few historic survivors downtown. Robinson, known mainly for schools, churches and hospitals, designed it as one of his few office buildings, and the adjacent public library is also his work. Exterior alterations are minimal, and the building has stood vacant for roughly a decade.","period_of_significance":"1928","architect_builder":"Charles M. Robinson","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals-Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant with current function \"Not in use\"; the text says it has been vacant for about the last ten years, with only one office occupied by 1990.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.168703-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/6820/41682059/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/02001001.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001001/566050d740-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001001/566050d740-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Joseph Sullivan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medical_Arts_Building_(Front).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Joseph Sullivan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medical_Arts_Building_(Front).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100009200","name":"Newport News Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/newport-news-downtown-historic-district-100009200/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682059","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Arts_Building_(Newport_News,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16894936"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/newport-news/medical-arts-building-02001001/"}