From Cancer to Condos
On Central Park West between 105th and 106th Streets is an unusual building that has sometimes been called The Castle, The Bastille, or The Chateau. Now officially known by its address, 455 Central Park West, it was built as the New York Cancer Hospital. It was the first hospital in the United States dedicated to the treatment of cancer. (London already had a cancer hospital.)
When the building opened in 1887, treatment of cancer was in its infancy and was mainly palliative. The architect, Charles Coolidge Haight, incorporated features that were thought to be beneficial for the patients. He made the wards circular for several reasons: to prevent dirt and germs from accumulating in corners, to create more space between the heads of the beds, and to make it easier for nurses to observe multiple patients at the same time. The circular wards resulted in the turreted facade that gave the building its castle-like appearance. In the center of each ward was a ventilation shaft to remove air that might have been contaminated by disease. Patients also could go outside to the protected front of the building to breathe fresh air and enjoy the view of Central Park directly opposite the facility.
Even with several additions to the building, it eventually became too small as more treatment options became available for patients with cancer. In the 1930s the pioneering facility moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan and assumed a new name. Today, it is Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The fanciful building on the West Side went into decline after the cancer hospital moved out. In the 1950s, it became the Towers Nursing Home (so named because of the turrets). Reports of poor conditions and financial fraud forced the nursing home to close in 1974. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission granted the building landmark status in 1976. That meant the structure would survive, but for what purpose?
As often happens in this city when landmarked structures have outlived their original purpose, the building continued to deteriorate until, after several decades, a real estate developer purchased the property and converted it to residential use. The four-story turreted building, together with an adjacent high-rise, together form 455 Central Park West, a luxury condominium. Most of the 100 apartments are in the new high-rise. But owners of the seventeen units in the original building enjoy large apartments with high ceilings, round walls, and an interesting history.