Many of you may not remember this, but the American Cultural Centre, located near the parliament building on Gulf Road, didn’t always look the way it does today.
Back in the 80s and early 90s, the building was in poor condition and looked pretty scary. When I was a kid and we used to drive by the building, I always thought the building was haunted because it gave off such creepy vibes.
The building was originally constructed in the early 1900s as the American Mission Hospital, but today serves as the headquarters of Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (@dai_kuwait). The restoration, completed in 2011, left me with the initial impression that the building had undergone major design changes since it ended up looking so different from what I had always known. But, I later realized that this wasn’t the case and that they in fact had done a proper restoration job, restoring the building to its original design.
These are some photos I found of the building before the renovation, but there are a lot more including photos of the building under construction and the building today on the Archnet website here.
4 replies on “Amricani Cultural Centre Before Renovation”
My father was born in this hospital and now works right next to it.
oh wow
Thanks for the mention. Sheikha Hussa Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah and the NCCAL actively worked to ensure the rehabilitation protected the integrity of this historic complex.
The buildings are now home the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, a multi-media presentation of the history of buildings and exhibitions of objects from The al-Sabah Collection. There are no fees for visiting and opening hours are Monday – Thursday and Saturday, 10 – 7 and Friday, 2 – 7 PM.
Look at that beautiful Olds Ninety Eight