A historic property that once was home to two pioneering Black physicians’ medical practice, providing care for Tallahassee residents nearly 70 years ago, is now owned by Florida A&M University.
FAMU recently acquired approximately 0.94 acres of property along South Adams Street − located directly across from main campus − for $950,000 to create a Health and Wellness Clinic. The site was owned by Dr. Russell L. Anderson and his son-in-law, Dr. Alexander D. “A.D.” Brickler, who was celebrated for integrating the old FAMU Hospital and Tallahassee Memorial Hospital during racial unrest.
“This is a very special opportunity to bring this historic property into the FAMUly while honoring those whose scholarship, medical practice and impact helped shape our university and this community,” FAMU President Marva Johnson said in a statement.
FAMU’s Board of Trustees approved the university’s plans to move forward with the purchase during a June meeting. The three-parcel property consists of a medical clinic building and an adjacent office building, which are located on 1705 and 1747 S. Adams St., across from the university president’s house. It also includes a 0.18-acre parking lot.
The medical clinic building was most recently occupied by the North Florida Thyroid Center until it permanently closed in May. It was owned and operatedby Dr. Celeste Hart – a Tallahassee native and endocrinologist who served as the center’s lead physician until she retired in May following a medical career that spanned 40 years.
As the daughter of Brickler and the granddaughter of Anderson, Hart has a close tie to the property’s history.
Anderson, who was recruited to FAMU in 1946 after graduating from Howard University College of Medicine, taught biology and served as medical director of the FAMU Hospital, which existed between 1951 and 1971 and was located at what is now the Foote-Hilyer Administration Center on the university’s campus.
In 1957, Brickler – who died in 2023 – moved his family to Tallahassee and joined Anderson in medical practice. During his medical career that spanned more than 60 years, he delivered over 30,000 newborn babies before retiring at the age of 90 in 2019. When FAMU Hospital merged, Anderson and Brickler became the first Black physicians on the medical staff at TMH.
In a university release, Hart said having FAMU acquire the property “was my dream.”
“I think they would be elated to see that their legacy has persisted,” Hart said, referring to her father and grandfather. “I’d like to think that they would be elated to see that this is going to continue to serve the Tallahassee community that they loved so much.”
FAMU’s health-centered plans for the historic property
FAMU acquired the historic property with the goal of carrying out initiatives through its Health Sciences Enterprise and Research Innovation division. For example, one of the university’s plans is to have a cardiometabolic center at the site, which would focus on conditions including diabetes, kidney disease and obesity.
The health-related initiative comes three years after the university acquired Lettman Square, north of Lee Hall in 2023 − which later had an August 2024 opening − to be used by students and faculty of FAMU’s School of Allied Health Sciences for experiential learning, student training and the treatment of community members.
At the same time, the university does not plan on having the future center duplicate services already offered by health providers in the community, FAMU’s Executive Vice President for Health Sciences Enterprise and Research Innovation Donald Palm said.
“This building is going to provide an opportunity for our nursing students, our pharmacy students and our allied health students, as well as our public health students, to really work together in a synergistic way,” Palm said in a statement.
The $950,000 acquisition was supported through supplemental funding from the U.S. Department of Education, according to the university. Renovations, which a FAMU spokesperson said will cost $200,000, are estimated to take approximately six months to a year before an opening.
Tarah Jean can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU acquires Anderson-Brickler property for $950K to create a clinic
Reporting by Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
