| Developed from a site originally set aside as the Mississippi Centennial Exposition, the Gulfport Veterans Administration Medical Center was established in 1922. Seven buildings, laid out on a campus plan complete with central quad, were completed by 1923, and later building programs brought the number of structures on the south campus to approximately 30 by the time the Keeper of the National Register made a Determination of Eligibility in 1980. After that determination, major alterations occurred in the early 1990s, including the covering of the original stucco on most buildings with synthetic stucco, or Dryvet; the replacement of all original windows on almost all buildings; interior gutting of all but a few buildings; and the demolition of the historic staff housing on the property. Hurricane Katrina took further toll on the historic fabric of the campus, causing the collapse of a fairly new structure at the front of campus and washing through all the buildings up to about four feet inside. Cleanup work by the Veterans Administration before abandoning the site and turning the property over to the City of Gulfport involved the demolition of support structures such as the old power plant and garages to the rear of the campus. In addition, the VA repaired the original red tile roofs in kind, and replaced the modern plate-glass windows with aluminum and wood sash more in keeping with the original multi-light sash that had been removed in the 1990s alterations. The remaining buildings still comprise the important historic campus, with the landscape plan mostly intact including the large central quad and asymmetrical curving drives to the outer residence buildings. The hospital complex was listed on the National Register on 15 January 2014 as the Gulfport Veterans Administration Medical Center Historic District. It was designated a Mississippi Landmark on 23 July 2010. The Gulfport V.A. Hospital is included in "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (p. 345, GC20). |