St. Mary's Manor

  • Year Closed: 2006

Religious, non-medical health care institution.

That's how St. Mary's Manor is enthusiastically described on a health care services fact sheet. The six-storey building was for sale at the time of these photos (2006) for the discount price of $1.8 million.

Prior to 1967, the building was Mount St. Mary's Hospital. When the hospital was relocated to Lewiston, NY, the building was converted into a nursing home for people who were chronically ill. St. Mary's Manor accommodated almost 120 people.

Architecturally, it was similar to an apartment building renovated for institutional use.

Translation: It was sort of plain and boring. Aside from a small church and chapel housed on the 3rd and 4th floors, most rooms were identical.

Although I can't determine an exact date, it looks like the building was closed sometime between 2002 and 2006. A reference to an employee union contract in 2002 was found, as well as reference to an arson attempt in 2006.

The arson attempt succeeded in causing considerable damage to the floors and walls of the ground floor. When these photos were taken, the smell of smoke was still strong in the air. Luckily the damage — and smell — was confined to the ground floor.