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The following are just some high
points in the development of Park Nicollet Medical Center.
The whole story is in the book Managing Change, Changing
Medicine, by James R. Hare, Jr. (1996). There is also an
account in "An Historical Review of Park Nicollet Medical
Center" in the Park Nicollet Medical Foundation "The
Bulletin," Vol. 33, No. 2, 1989 (on file at the SLP
Historical Society). That account was written by one
of the original doctors, Dr. Robert A. Green. Also see the
clinic’s web site.
In 1949, Nick Phillips had contemplated
building a medical center at his site at Lilac Way, and
Surgeon Richard J. Webber jumped at the chance to start a
medical practice in the suburbs, but the deal fell through.
On June 28, 1950, the Dispatch announced the
beginning of the St. Louis Park Medical Center.
Morten Arneson agreed to
give a group of (then)10 doctors a 99-year lease for the western portion
of his three-acre nursery, including a 100-ft. frontage on
Excelsior Blvd. The project was started by a group of WWII Veterans,
who had all been working at the Veterans Hospital, each
with a different specialty. The Dispatch reported that they were all married, all
trained at the U of M, were between the ages of 30 and 34,
and had a total of 25 children.
The original doctors
were:
John LaBree
Wyman Jacobson
Richard Webber
Robert Green
Alex Barno
Donald Freeman
Sewell S. Gordon
Arnold S. Anderson
Robert Giebink
David Anderson
George W. Lund
The doctors
pooled their Veterans' benefits in order to obtain a
construction loan, and the first building of the St. Louis
Park Medical
Center was built at 4959/4961 Excelsior Blvd. It was
designed by Long and Thorshov, and cost $100,000 - plus
$50,000 for equipment. The building originally had no
air conditioning. On July 2, 1951, the St. Louis Park
Medical Center opened for business, seeing five patients and
making $16.

In 1953, Arneson closed his nursery and moved to Edina. He
offered to sell his remaining Excelsior Blvd. property to
the clinic, but they declined, so he built a grocery store
on the rest of the site at 4951 Excelsior Blvd., on the
corner of Excelsior and Quentin.
By 1956, the Center had 17 doctors and added a $100,000
addition to the original building. The first doctor to
come after the original 11 was Dr. Al Schultz. The
next was Dr. Wm. Fifer in 1956, followed by Dr. Cushing.
In 1960, the St. Louis Park Medical Center Research
Foundation was formed to promote medical research and
community education.
In 1961, there were 24 doctors on staff; the total staff of
100 served an average 300 patients a day.

Original site, 2000
The Center required more and more room as the practice
expanded, and in June 1966, it was authorized to purchase
the six-acre site of the Beltline Pay Dump, one block north
on 39th Street, across Excelsior Blvd. The move to the new
Northland Building was completed on December 15, 1968. The
Northland Building, at 3900 Park Nicollet Blvd., grew to
seven floors, the tallest building at the time in St. Louis
Park.
And
in 1977, an adjacent structure, the Arneson Pavilion, was
dedicated to Morton and Katheren Arneson. These buildings
are now known for their addresses: 3800, 3850, and 3900 Park
Nicollet Blvd.
On August 2, 1983, the St. Louis Park Medical Center merged
with the Nicollet Clinic to form the Park Nicollet Medical
Center. The Nicollet Clinic had started in 1921, also by
doctors from the University of Minnesota Medical School. The
Clinic was originally located at Nicollet Avenue and 11th
Street, then at the corner of Franklin and Blaisdell.
The original site, either extensively added on to or
rebuilt, houses a bank and dental office, among others, and
is owned by the owners of Miracle Mile.
Also see article in
Re-Echo.
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