Before College Students, There Were Axis POWs: Cuyahoga Community College- Parma, Ohio

Have no fear, community college students; I have an oddity for you. Before attending Kent State University, I attended Cuyahoga Community College for a couple of years. I attended one of the campuses, Parma or Tri-C Western Campus. All the time that I attended, I had no clue that the Tri-C campus’ land was once the grounds of a military hospital and  German POW barracks. I even somehow missed the historical marker. As an alumni of Cuyahoga Community College (a.k.a Tri-C), I must bring up this tale. 

Before the college was built on sight, it was once a military hospital called Crile Hospital. It opened its doors on Easter Sunday, 1944. The hospital's name was dedicated to the Cleveland Clinic Founder, Dr. George Crile, a celebrated surgeon who founded the Cleveland Clinic. As many as 15,000 soldiers were treated for their wounds on the campus, and it also housed a few hundred German and Italian prisoners of war. That's a proper barracks that housed soldiers from the Axis! 

The hospital was 153 acres with 87 buildings connecting. The buildings consisted of inpatient hospital wards, mess halls, operating rooms, a chapel, and a secure location for the POWs. There was even a pool for the soldiers to get a refreshing swim in. The facilities had 1,725 beds and 1000 staff members to help assist in the rehabilitation of the soldiers. 

There was even one escape attempt with a POW. A German tried to escape the barracks but was shot down by the guards before he could make his escape. 

After the war, the hospital became the Veterans Administration Medical Center in 1946. Many of the POWs returned to their country of origin, and some became United States citizens. The number of beds was cut down to 1000, and facilities were added that started offering physical and occupational therapies. 

A decade later, a Nike missile battery was installed on the grounds. This was due to the US’s rising tensions during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. In 1964, the medical center moved to its new location in University Circle in Cleveland, leaving the land up for grabs with new occupants. 

In 1966, the old barracks were converted into classrooms for the newly opened Tri—C Westshore Campus until they were razed and the new building (the one today) was built. The college currently has the records and artifacts from Crile Hospital in the Crile Archive. There is also a historical marker that talks about Crile Military Hospital. One of the Cleveland Clinic buildings on the main campus, the Crile Building, is still located on East 100th.