TD takes close look at old Richmond Memorial Hospital conversion

Nothing was torn down to make way for the buildings. And no parks have disappeared. Instead, Ginter Place is being built inside the old Richmond Memorial Hospital, which closed in 1998.

“Most of the exterior is as it was except for window replacements and the balconies,” said Edwin Gaskin, one of Ginter Place’s six owners. Other owners include James E. Ukrop, chairman of Ukrop’s Super Markets Inc. and First Market Bank, and his son, Ted Ukrop.

At Ginter Place, the lobby and the chapel are being restored to their original designs. From there, the building has changed dramatically.

“We took about 500 Dumpsters away to get back to the original core of the building,” Gaskin said. “That gave us a blank canvas to start anew.”

The canvas was 224,000 square feet. The 69 condominiums occupy about 125,000 square feet, leaving room for a two-level parking garage and ample storage for the condo owners.

On-site amenities include meeting rooms, a grand clubroom and a 1,635-square-foot visitor/guest suite that condo owners can reserve on a first-come, first-serve basis. The chapel, whose limestone walls rise four stories, will be converted into a reading room.