In 1906, the District of Columbia constructed the five-story Home for the Aged and the Infirm at Blue Plains, adjacent to the southeast corner of Bellevue. The facility fell into serious disrepair in the 1940s, and staffing issues became critical. The facility was renovated in the 1960s and renamed D.C. Village. A U-shaped complex of residential cottages, a new modern infirmary, an auditorium, and chapel were constructed at the site, and D.C. Village was lauded nationwide as a model elder-care facility. But in the 1970s, D.C. Village began admitting indigent and acute-care patients other nursing facilities could not care for. In 1980, the facility began accepted patients under the age of 60, essentially converting into an acute-care long-term care facility. Extensive financial problems and an exodus of staff led to a number of patient deaths and lawsuits. Courts ordered the facility to stop accepting new patients in 1993, and by 1996 D.C. Village had only 230 patients for its 800 beds. After years of political battles over the facility's future, D.C. Village closed in late 2007.