 Some 40 years ago, the fledgling Medical College of Ohio opened its doors to 32 medical students on grounds of a county-run general hospital, and a former tuberculosis hospital at the southeast corner of Detroit and Arlington avenues.
The campus, then called the East Campus, contained some buildings constructed in the early 1900s, others built in the 1920s and 1930s.
Today, MCO is located approximately one mile west of its first home. Spread out on 475 acres of land in south Toledo, MCO is home to 2,000 medical, nursing, allied health and graduate students and approximately 3,200 employees. Its campus, designed by a world-renowned architect, is dotted with gleaming, state-of-the-art buildings.
The college's first board of trustees and first two presidents, Glidden L. Brooks, M.D. and Marion C. Anderson, M.D, completed much of the initial spadework for the campus. They possessed a powerful vision for MCO because back then nothing but a cornfield and animal barn stood on the future campus of MCO on land that belonged to the then Toledo State Hospital.
Recognizing the opportunity to build a new campus, the first MCO Board of Trustees awarded a contract to Yamasaki & Associates of Troy, Mich., to develop the master plan and the first facility, a health sciences building, and a classroom building.
The head of the firm, architect Minoru Yamasaki, had designed New York's World Trade Center and developed a master plan for development in downtown Toledo, leading to the construction of the SeaGate Centre and Government Center.
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Workers pour concrete during construction of the Health Science Building, the first structure built on the MCO campus. In 1995, the building was renamed the Paul Block Health Science Building in honor of the late publisher of The Blade who played an instrumental role in MCO's development and his service as a member of the Board of Trustees.
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In a September 1969 article in The Blade, officials of the Yamasaki firm said the aim of the master plan, which was completed in 1968, was to provide a humanistic design for the campus and give it "an open air feeling" as much as possible. As an example, they noted that the first building was designed so that all laboratories would have outside windows and a center courtyard.
In the article, Yamasaki officials also cited as an example of the campus' humanistic design what they called "the magic carpet," a network of enclosed walkways running from building to building through which it would be possible to walk from one end of the main campus to the other without going outdoors.
The plan also called for the preservation of a tree-covered ravine that ran through the campus with as few of the trees being removed as possible, and the relocation of Arlington Avenue to the north closer to Swan Creek. If not changed Arlington would have run right through the center of the campus.
The master plan provided for the completion of a complex of buildings housing a 400-seat auditorium, audio-visual center, computer center, animal storage, and maintenance service facilities, a library-learning center, administrative offices, a student-faculty center complex; and a patient care-clinical science complex that included a teaching hospital.
Construction on the Raymon H. Mulford Library Building, the second built on the MCO campus, began in the early 1970s.
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When Richard D. Ruppert, M.D., became MCO's third president in 1977, one of his top priorities was to secure enough funding from the state to complete the Yamasaki master plan. MCO was still on two campuses when he arrived--one in a group of buildings, including the former Maumee Valley Hospital, at the southeast corner of Detroit and Arlington avenues, and the beginnings of the present West Campus on land between Arlington and Glendale avenues west of the Toledo Mental Health Center. Three buildings on the West Campus-- the Health Science, Raymon H. Mulford Library and Health Education buildings--had opened and construction had started on the University Medical Center.
MCO's development went into high gear. Hard hats worn by carpenters, steel workers, concrete finishers, masons, equipment operators and laborers became as familiar on campus as the white coats of faculty members, resident physicians and medical students. In talks before faculty, staff and students, Dr. Ruppert -- not always in jest -- would caution them to drive carefully because new piles of dirt, holes and detours could be expected as construction on new buildings began. Employees and students, excited about the direction and shape that the campus was taking, gladly put up with the inconveniences as the emerging MCO complex became a magnet for health care in northwest Ohio.
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Construction of the University Medical Center during the mid-1970s was a major project on campus.
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Of all the hats Dr. Ruppert wore during his 16 years as MCO's third president, none fit more comfortably than the one identifying him as "Dick Ruppert, Builder." It was a title he earned by overseeing the MCO's explosive development.
Much of MCO's success in securing state capital funds for the new campus was due to Dr. Ruppert's ability to sway governors, legislative leaders and higher education policy makers in Columbus to the needs of the medical college. In his role as vice chancellor for health affairs of the Ohio Board of Regents from 1974 to 1977, he learned his way around the hallways and offices of the state capital and who he could turn to for support. He spent thousands of hours in Columbus arguing MCO's case.
The major projects completed during Dr. Ruppert's 16-year tenure as president included:
* The $47 million, 258-bed University Medical Center
* The $9.4 million Dowling Hall that houses the 36-bed MCO-Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital at the Coghlin Pavilion, and the $3.4 million Henry L. Morse Physical Health Research Center
* The $4 million Kobacker Center, a 25-bed child and adolescent psychiatric hospital
* The $3.4 million Eleanor N. Dana Conference Center, a facility used by physicians, nurses, health professionals and the general public for educational programs
* The $11 million Health Center, later renamed the Richard D. Ruppert Health Center, that houses outpatient care clinics and academic offices
* The $10 million system of underground tunnels and above ground enclosed walkways. The underground tunnel system that connects all existing campus buildings is well-lighted and climate controlled, allowing physicians, students, patients and staff to move quickly from building to building without going out-of-doors.
Another structure, the Toledo Hilton Hotel, was constructed and opened in July 1988 with private funding on eight acres of land leased from the college.
In addition, the college bought the Glendale Medical Building and the Garden Lake Building, leased the former Heatherdowns School at 1932 Birchwood Ave., for its Early Learning Day Care Center and prescribed pediatric care program, and obtained funding and began planning for the Howard L. Collier Building that today houses the schools of Allied Health and Nursing.
For many long-time employees, the opening of the new 258-bed University Medical Center was a landmark event in the college's maturation. One-hundred patients were transferred from the old to the new hospital without incident in specially equipped tractor-trailer vans on Dec. 15, 1979. More than 500 MCO employees, administrators, students and community volunteers participated in the move that was dubbed "Movin' West." Physicians, registered nurses, respiratory therapists rode in each van to watch for any medical problems. Amateur radio operators rode in the vans and were stationed on both campuses and along the move route to form a communication network that allowed an eight-member move planning committee to monitor the progress of the vans and keep things on schedule.
Dr. Ruppert demonstrated both patience and tenacity on several projects. The most elusive was the Toledo Hilton Hotel built with private funds, a project that had been proposed in the late 1970s. The hotel was on the drawing boards for 10 years before a Cleveland developer, Burt Wohlstein, entered into an agreement with MCO to proceed with its construction.
Specially equipped tractor-trailers rigs safely transferred 100 patients from the former Maumee Valley Hospital to the new University Medical Center on Dec. 15, 1979.
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Over the years, MCO's beautiful campus has been an unique asset in the college's drive to gain national and international recognition. It has been a drawing card in recruiting new faculty, staff members and students and permitted MCO to grow in the number of faculty members, students, degree programs and research programs. Almost all of the buildings erected on campus stayed true to Yamasaki's original master plan even as the changing needs of the fast-growing school and the style of other architects came into play.
"It's a remarkable campus that makes a deep impression on visitors," said Peter Goldblatt, M.D., former professor and chairman of pathology in a January 1987 article in Toledo Magazine, a publication of The Blade. "I've served on a lot of search committees and there never has been a negative comment about the campus."
In the same article, Dr. Ruppert, M.D., described it as "probably the finest physical plant in the country."
MCO added 233 acres of land immediately east of the existing campus in 1996 for the development of the Advanced Technology Park of Northwest Ohio.
| Eleanor N. Dana Conference Center | The Eleanor N. Dana Conference Center, dedicated in 1983, was built with generous gifts from the Charles A. Dana Foundation, the Dana Corp. Foundation and the Dana Corp. The building is named for the widow of Charles Dana, founder of the Dana Corp., a Toledo-based automotive parts and components manufacturer. The modern facility is used for meetings, academic and community events and continuing health education programs. The conference center has a wide variety of modern audiovisual equipment and services, including a large auditorium with a large 10' by 20' screen and projection booth. Other rooms throughout the building have portable equipment designed to meet presentation needs.
| Richard D. Ruppert Health Center | Named for MCO's third president, the $11.3 million Ruppert Health Center, opened in 1988 and was formally dedicated five years later. The 103,423-square-foot facility houses outpatient clinics, laboratories, offices for corporate offices, MCO's fertility center, MCO's Cancer Institute and physician and clinical department offices. The one-story structure has a diameter slightly longer than a football field, 312 feet. While the building has a coliseum-like circular facade, courtyards designed into the building provide for rectangular-shaped offices. Its unique circular design offers convenient access for visitors and parking and its dramatic architecture is a prominent feature of the campus.
| Dorothy and Ashel Bryan Academic Commons |
A jewel of the MCO campus master plan, the Bryan Academic Commons was dedicated in October 1989. A three-acre landscaped park bordered by the Dana Center, the Ruppert Center and the Toledo Hilton Hotel, the park contains shade and evergreen trees, low-level lighting, benches, perennial gardens, sculpture pieces and a wood trellis with subtle water fountains. It also features three all-weather tennis courts, gently winding walks and rolling lawns. The commons is named in honor of Dorothy and Ashel Bryan of Bowling Green, Ohio, who are long-time friends of MCO and generous supporters of the project. Mrs. Bryan has been long active in artistic pursuits with special interest in the design and beautification of the MCO campus. Mr. Bryan is a past member and chairman of the MCO Board of Trustees and a former member and president of the MCO Foundation Board.
| Howard L. Collier Building | Opened in the fall 1996, the Collier Building is the home for the College of Nursing and the College of Health Sciences. The facility is named for the late Howard L. Collier, who served as finance director for the state of Ohio under former Governor James A. Rhodes and later as MCO vice president from 1972 to 1985. The building contains 86,000 square feet and includes administrative and faculty offices, classrooms and laboratories for the two schools.
The state-of-the-art structure is the first building on campus to utilize fiberoptic cabling for network service.
A 213-room, six-story, privately built and operated facility, the hotel opened on the MCO campus in July 1988. In addition to lodging, the facility houses meeting rooms, a restaurant, a lounge, an indoor swimming pool and the MCO Faculty Club. It is connected to the Dana Center and the Ruppert Center.
| Facilities Support Building | The Facilities Support Building was built in 1983 for inventory and records storage and to provide space for the MCO grounds department. The 18,120-square-foot facility has climate-controlled space for records retention and two bays for minor vehicle and equipment repairs.
The Glendale Medical Center, located at 3355 Glendale Ave., was built in 1985. The 39,968-square-foot, three-story building was purchased by MCO in 1989. It houses South Toledo Internists and the MCO Geriatric Center.
The Garden Lake Building, located on Detroit Avenue between Arlington and Glendale avenues, was originally built in 1969 and underwent extensive remodeling in the early 1980s. The 20,689-square-foot, single-story structure houses MCO's Department of Family Medicine.
A facility for families with young children, the EduCare Center joins under one roof a number of educational, interventional and medical programs. The term EduCare is a contraction--a blending of the words education, health care and child care--that describes the range of programs available in the center. The Educare Center is located at 1932 Birchwood Ave., one mile south of the MCO campus. A former elementary school, it is leased by MCO for its Early Learning Center, a day care program, and the Prescribed Pediatric Program, a nonresidential day medical care program for children requiring complex health care. Established by MCO, the Early Intervention Bureau of the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, the facility offers family centered, community based programs administered by MCO and a number of Toledo-area social service and health agencies. A supervised field site for medical, nursing and allied health students at MCO and other area college and universities, the center was formally dedicated in July 1993.
The Foundation House, located on Detroit Avenue, across from the Garden Lake Building, houses administrative offices for the MCO Foundation.
The Redistribution Center, opened in 1995, was originally used as a storage facility for the former Toledo Mental Health Center. The 19,968-square-foot, single-story facility has its loading doc and freight elevators used for MCO inventory and redistribution of equipment and inventory.
The 17,560-square-foot Dietary Building was built in 1962. Today the Northwest Psychiatric Hospital utilizes it for food service preparation. The building has large food preparation areas, walk-in refrigerator and freezer capability and a recessed loading dock for receiving and handling perishable goods. The single-story building also has space for cafeteria service.
The 30,976-square-foot Energy Center, located in the Advanced Technology Park of Northwest Ohio, houses four boilers to generate steam for heating and cooling campus buildings. Three of the boilers utilize coal as a fuel source while the fourth is fueled by natural gas. The original powerhouse was built in 1959, with the last boiler installed in 1970. Two grants totaling approximately $8.5 million are being used to install sophisticated technology that allows MCO to burn high-sulfur Ohio coal while reducing the emissions of harmful gases.
| Northwest Ohio Medical Technology Center | The Northwest Ohio Medical Technology Center opened in 1997 in the Advanced Technology Park of Northwest Ohio and houses the Lucas County Coroner's Office and labs for research. |
