The 90-year-old former Richmond Community Hospital building was the center of a celebration Sunday as community members gathered to honor its past and advocate for its future.

More than 30 people attended the Community History Fair, marking the anniversary of the hospital’s 1934 move to Richmond’s North Side. The institution, established in 1907, played a crucial role in serving African Americans during the era of medical segregation.

The building, unused for decades, still shows signs of neglect with boarded-up windows, broken stonework and overgrown vegetation. Lively conversation, however, alongside recorded big band music from the 1930s helped create a friendly, laid-back mood. For the occasion, a pop-up museum exhibit dotted the  building’s front lawn and some of its windows, showcasing photos, news clippings and information about the hospital and its staff. A vintage Model

A Ford from the late 1920s, provided by the Old Dominion Model A Ford Club, added to the atmosphere.

Viola Baskerville, former state delegate and co-founder of the Save Community Hospital group, helped organize the fair.

“What we wanted to do is to continue to draw attention to the significance of the visionaries of the hospital,” Baskerville said. “This will be our last outdoor event for some time, and we wanted to be able to have some visual event that will continue to remind Virginia Union and the community about the significance of this hospital.”

David Sith’s Sunday afternoon drive took an unexpected turn when he stumbled upon the gathering at the old building, where he was born in 1964.

The Henrico County resident, who grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood, was heading out for a meal when the activity caught his eye.

Intrigued, Stith spontaneously joined the event. By the time he left, he had gained a deeper understanding of the building’s history and felt compelled to support its preservation.

“This area’s changed, but this building’s stood the test of time,” Stith said.

The fair was the culmination of months of activism to raise awareness about the building’s potential demolition as part of Virginia Union University’s housing plans. In May, the building was added to Preservation Virginia's 2024 List of Virginia’s Most Endangered Sites.

Alongside taking in the sights and sounds of the fair, attendees suggested future

uses for the building, including public housing, a training center for health professionals and an incubator for Black businesses.

Loretta Tillman, a retired Chester resident with experience as a historian who is working to replace the gravestone of one of the hospital’s founders, Sarah Garland Boyd Jones, expressed relief at the scale and  diversity of the turnout.

“I’m glad to see this done,” Tillman said. “I’m glad to see anybody out here because without them, this probably wouldn’t still be here.”

VUU officials say college-hosted community events are planned for the coming weeks. The advocates, however, remain committed to their cause.