[GRIFFIN, GA, October 11] My Brother’s Keeper Service Center of Georgia, Inc. has acquired the historic Haisten’s Hospital property in Griffin.
At its October 10 board meeting, the Griffin-Spalding County Land Bank Authority voted to approve the request by My Brother’s Keeper, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to purchase the Haisten property, located at 522 Meriwether Street, along with three vacant parcels near the hospital on West College Street.
“We appreciate the confidence the Griffin-Spalding County Land Bank Authority and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation have placed in us with the acquisition of the Haisten property,” said James M. Harvey, Jr., My Brother’s Keeper’s executive director. “We worked extremely hard to meet both of their needs and requirements. We want very much to save an important piece of Griffin’s history, particularly the important role nurses had at the hospital and in the community, while re-establishing a neighborhood focal point that residents can enjoy for many years to come.”
Restoration of the property will
occur in several phases. Immediate plans are to improve curb appeal through restoring
the building’s exterior according to historical preservation guidelines and
installing new landscaping. Long term
plans are to renovate the building to create a 12-room inn with meeting space
and a dining hall. Plans also include construction of a chapel and community
resource center.
“Our goal is to provide services to help people in need, including individuals
who have cognitive disabilities,” Harvey said. “The community resource center
will provide a variety of programs from youth development programs to an
emergency food pantry to other human services programs.”
Built in 1910, the Griffin Hospital and Nurses’ Home was the city’s second hospital, and provided first-class medical care to residents of Griffin. The hospital also housed a nurses’ dormitory as nurses at the time lived within the hospital. In the mid-1930’s the Haisten Brothers purchased the building and operated it as a funeral home for several decades.
My Brother’s Keeper Service Center of Georgia, Inc. is a human services organization, whose purpose is to bring resources, assistance and compassion to individuals who are in need or are in crisis. More information about the organization can be found at http://www.mybrotherskeeperservicecenter.org.
My Brother's Keeper Service Center of Georgia 