Delnor Hospital
975 N. 5th Avenue

Click to enlarge image.

This is yet another building in St. Charles that exists due to the philanthropic efforts of Dellora and Lester Norris. Dellora Norris, who reportedly had a vital interest in medicine, built this hospital to satisfy her interest and to provide care for the community. When Delnor Hospital opened on Thanksgiving Day 1940, it received much fanfare and publicity both locally and nationally. The building, designed by architect Edward Fairbanks, resembles a Williamsburg estate with its brick facade and white columns. The cost of the hospital was $250,000 and half of this money was used for medical equipment.

Although the hospital offered the latest in medical treatment, it was unlike any other hospital in other respects. Not every hospital can claim to have an interior planned by a famous designer. Dorothy Draper, who helped contribute to the interest surrounding the hospital, designed the hospital in a way that offered patients a sense of health and hope. Patients' rooms were painted in various pastel shades; a practice intended to relieve the antiseptic atmosphere of a hospital.

Over the years, various additions were made to both the services offered and the hospital's size. When it opened in 1940, the hospital had a 25 bed capacity; by 1966, it had a capacity of 105. In the early 1980s, Delnor and Community Hospital in Geneva began to consider consolidation. After overcoming some obstacles, the two entities merged to create Delnor Community Health System in 1985. By 1990, construction had begun on a new hospital facility on Randall Road in Geneva. At this time, Marion Joy Physical Rehabilitation Center took over the Delnor Hospital building.

In 1994, the 1940 hospital was put on the sale block. Some portions of the expansive building were demolished and the rest of the building refurbished and remodeled to accomodate senior citizens. Today the building houses Delnor Community Residential Living.

Delnor Community Residential Living

For additional photographs, see these sources, more fully described in the Bibliography.

Delnor Hospital Vertical File
St. Charles on Parade p 59

Also see...

Arcada Theatre
Old St. Charles Post Office
Municipal Building

Sources

• "Bonds Issue to Fund Hospital Construction." St. Charles Chronicle 9 June 1989, Bus: 1.
  
• Costello, Mary Ann. "Delnor Building Put Up for Sale." Kane County Chronicle 8 June 1994, A:1.
  
• Davis, Ann. "Delnor Has Grown Up During Its 40 Years." St. Charles Chronicle 26 Nov. 1980.
  
• Davis, Ann. "Work Begins on Tri-City Hospital." St. Charles Chronicle 11 Aug. 1989, 1:1:4.
  
• Delnor Hospital Annual Report: 40 Years of Growing, 1940-1980. St. Charles: Delnor Hospital, 1980
  
• Heun, David. "Senior Citizen Living Gets New Look." Kane County Chronicle July 11 1998, A:1:1.
  
• Mica, Don. "Delnor Building Rebirth." St. Charles Republican 15 May 1997, 22.
  
• Pierotti, Ann. "Delnor Board Sinks Hospital Merger." St. Charles Chronicle 19 Oct. 1983.
  
• Pierotti, Ann. "Study Proposes New Hospital for Tri-Cities." St. Charles Chronicle 2 Feb. 1983.
  
• Sackley, Richard. "Hospitals Approve Merger: Move Ends Delnor, Community Competition." St. Charles Chronicle 13 Feb. 1985.
  
• Unzicker, Tim. "Center Will Sell Former Delnor Site." St. Charles Republican 9 June 1994, 5.
  
• Zalusky, Steve."Hospital Celebrates Its 1st Anniversary." St. Charles Republican 10 Sept. 1992, 15.