Before 1962, when the growing communities of Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, and Merritt Island required access to hospital facilities, they had to travel to Wuesthoff Memorial Hospital in Rockledge. While nine to twelve miles may not seem unreasonable, it is essential to remember that State Road 520 was only two lanes at the time. If there were an accident, it was difficult to reach the mainland, as State Road 528 over to the mainland had yet to be constructed. The local paper noted in 1957, “the time needed to transport a patient across the traffic-jammed Causeway Road from the Beach to Cocoa might well spell the difference between life and death.”
Beachside citizens began to officially explore the construction of a hospital in 1957. It appears a site was initially selected in Cocoa Beach on Cocoa Ave., now Minuteman Causeway, along the Banana River. The concept design architect was Joseph Carlisle in nearby Orlando. This proposed site would have initially provided for a 25-bed facility and could have been quickly expanded to 50 beds.
In January 1960, the Cape Canaveral Hospital Board of Directors announced architect Reginald Knight would design the 35-bed Cape Canaveral Hospital, projected to cost $500,000. Knight was also recently hired to serve as the architect for the First Federal Savings & Loan of Cocoa, Cocoa Beach Branch (Glass Bank). Rather than being constructed near downtown Cocoa Beach, as noted previously, the hospital plans called for the current location just north of SR 520. The Inman Brothers Dredging Contractors of Orlando received a $42,425 contract to dredge and fill the 9.6-acre property from the Banana River. The building’s groundbreaking was on April 12, 1961.
By December 1961, the facility was 85% complete, with the second floor designed to enable a rapid two-floor expansion when necessary due to future population growth. The hospital was dedicated on Sunday, July 22, 1962, with a ceremony from 2pm to 6pm. The facility had been expanded to 44 beds from the initial 35 announced, with an equipped completion cost of $927,000. The first patient was admitted on Wednesday, the 25th.
It is at this point that we move on to our mystery. I recently acquired the black-and-white Kodak photo dated March 1962 that you see to the left. Not only does it provide a nice view of the construction site itself, but the sign is a wealth of information and, most importantly, can be clearly read. However, the mystery is who the individual is. A clue is provided on the back of the photo stating that they applied for a job at the hospital as a dietitian.
This led me to wonder how I might determine who they were. Perhaps they were a native of Brevard, or had they relocated to the area because a relative worked at Cape Canaveral, or to pursue a business opportunity in the rapidly growing region? If they did secure the dietitian job, it would be wonderful to conduct an oral history with them to assist in working on the “life history” of the hospital’s early years.