Calgary's first major General Hospital was built in Victoria Park in 1884 and officially opened in 1885. A community endeavour, the hospital was financially supported by Calgary's establishment including A.E Cross, William Pearce, and the tireless fund-raising of Mrs. Pinkham, wife of Calgary's well known Anglican Bishop. The building, representative of Calgary's maturation at the turn of the century, was one of Calgary's earliest examples of formal architecture and was fashioned in a simplified Romanesque style typical of the 1880-1900 period. Designed by Calgary architects, Child & Wilson, the structure was one of the first large scale projects in the city to be built in sandstone. During the period of its construction, the Calgary General Hospital was considered a modern, convenient building in the city. The hospital had electric lights, a signal bell, telephones and dumbwaiters. As the hospital served the entire Calgary region and was impacted by the poor and destitute settlers to the area, it quickly outgrew its original capacity. Population was booming in Calgary and several additions were soon made; a maternity wing (1899), a second two-story ward (1903), and another maternity wing (1905). By 1908 the hospital had again become too small and a new facility was built North, the Bow River. For a time the old hospital was used as an isolation hospital and in the 1950s became a senior citizen's home. The hospital served the community until its scheduled demolition in 1973. Following a heated civic and provincial preservation debate, the demolition ceased and the remains of the building were incorporated into a park by Premier Peter Lougheed. The site is named Rundle Ruins after the senior citizen's home that occupied the building from 1955-1971.