{"nrhp_refnum":"10000312","name":"St. Charles Hospital","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"400 E New York St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aurora","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.75828314200004,"lon":-88.30844936099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-06-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story, U-shaped reinforced concrete hospital with brick veneer at 400 East New York Street in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, built in 1931-1932 to designs by architect Wybe J. Van der Meer for the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the building as a strong, arguably the purest, example of Art Deco architecture in Aurora, shown through its terra-cotta detailing, geometric brickwork and stepped, pyramid-like massing. It also marks a shift for Van der Meer, who had mostly designed Gothic and traditional church buildings. The hospital replaced the original 1900 St. Charles Hospital as the city's primary care facility and gave local employment during the early Depression.","narrative":"Built in 1931 and 1932 just east of downtown Aurora, St. Charles Hospital is a six-story, U-shaped building of reinforced concrete faced in brick, set on a granite base. Architect Wybe J. Van der Meer designed it for the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart at a cost of $500,000, and it held 110 beds. It replaced the order's original 1900 hospital nearby, which was later demolished in 1968. The exterior shows Art Deco character through zig-zag terra-cotta stringcourses, patterned brickwork, triangular piers, and stepped setbacks that give a pyramid-like profile. Statues of St. Joseph and St. Charles flank the main entrance, and a chapel on the Fourth Street side has Gothic-influenced stained glass windows. Van der Meer had mostly designed traditional and Gothic church buildings before this commission. Construction employed local labor during the early Depression, and more than 5,000 people attended the 1932 dedication. The hospital closed in 1971 and now houses a nursing home.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Wybe J. Van der Meer (architect); C.J. De Wit (contractor)","architectural_style":"Modern Movement / Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a private nursing home since 1993, operating on the first, third, fourth and fifth floors; the second and sixth floors are empty and used for storage. The hospital closed in 1971. Interior renovations have altered the interior, but the exterior remains in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.299303-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/8932/28893226/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/10000312.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000312/61f684e57a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000312/61f684e57a-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Charles_Hospital_Aurora_IL.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Charles_Hospital_Aurora_IL.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893226","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_River_Pavilion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5476908"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/st-charles-hospital-10000312/"}