Motorists on Amarillo Boulevard have for years driven past a piece of Amarillo history that sat in limbo until somewhat recently. The old St. Anthony’s Hospital — located on the corner of Polk and The Boulevard — sat unused after 2004, but in 2022, the groundbreaking on a conversion of the facility into a low-cost senior living facility marked the start of a new chapter in the long life of Amarillo’s first hospital, despite the numerous delays faced by the project.
Founded in 1901 by four nuns with Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, the hospital was the first on the High Plains. The medical building lacked amenities such as gas, electricity and telephone service, but boasted 14 beds and helped the city weather a typhoid epidemic in 1907. Two years later, an addition was added to the facility, providing 30 new beds and an operating room. More additions in the 1920s and 1940s brought the total beds up to 150 and provided dedicated space for a laboratory, delivery rooms, X-ray rooms and more operating suites. 150 more beds would be added to the complex in 1960 as the result of a $2 million grant provided by the Amarillo Area Foundation.
In 1969, High Plains Baptist Hospital — a new, state-of-the-art hospital located at the edge of town off of Coulter St. — began operations and would compete with St. Anthony’s for the next 25 years. This new development would serve as the first major installation at what today is the bustling medical district. Northwest Texas Hospital — originally located off of 6th Ave. — made the move to a new facility near HPBH in 1982, and the medical district quickly began to attract more and more doctors and other medical services. In 1996, HPBH and St. Anthony’s announced a merger to form Baptist St. Anthony’s, with all operations planned to slowly move to the Coulter St. campus. By 2004, the final BSA employees had finished moving out of the complex, leaving it abandoned and derelict for the foreseeable future.
2022 would mark the start of a new chapter for the beleaguered building. On August 15 of that year, stakeholders broke ground on what would be The Commons at St. Anthony’s. The new senior living facility plans to offer 124 units of "high-quality, affordable rental housing for seniors," with studios, one, and two bedroom units in the works. The reinvigorated complex will include community gathering areas, fitness and business centers, outdoor courtyards and gardens. While originally expected to open in the summer of 2024, the discovery of major structural issues requiring an $8.3 million budget expansion and supply chain issues put numerous delays on the project. On February 26 of this year, Potter county approved a final delay, with opening now slated for April 1, 2026.
