In 1927, the 19th and Spring Garden Street buildings were placed on the market, and
a search began for a new location that could accommodate the need for enlarged educational
and hospital facilities. A public fundraising campaign was launched; various sites
in North Philadelphia were explored by the Board before selecting a residential neighborhood
in West Philadelphia known as “Garden Court.”
A tract of land was purchased at the northeast corner of 48th and Spruce Streets. Ground was broken in the winter of 1929, and construction by the William Steele Company proceeded at a rapid pace. The 75,000-square-foot building, designed in Collegiate Gothic style by Camden architects Lackey and Hettel, opened for occupancy—almost simultaneously with the Stock Market Crash.
Picturesque and dramatic, the building was magnificent in both mass and composition. It was created of stone and brick with a slate roof and casement windows. The main entrance on Spruce Street was flanked by two towers. It opened into a large lobby that connected the College and hospital units. The basement consisted of 40 treatment booths—an outpatient department for third- and fourth-year students to gain clinical skills (booth doctors). The College unit boasted a 500-seat auditorium, offices, classrooms, laboratories and dissection areas. The hospital portion could accommodate 80 patients. The third floor of the hospital featured a surgical amphitheater that could seat approximately 200, a private operating room and an anesthetizing room.
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