GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Demolition could begin next month on the former Kent Community Hospital, making way for a massive new building that would serve as Kent County’s administrative hub.
A demolition permit was requested Monday for the old hospital building at 750 Fuller Ave. NE north of I-196, online records show. The plan is to kick off demolition in August and wrap up by November, according to Tim Bradshaw, the facilities management director for Kent County.
Staff had hoped to begin the work months ago, but there have been unexpected challenges along the way. The hospital building spans 233,000 square feet, part of which dates back to 1922, Bradshaw told News 8.
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“As we’ve been abating hazardous materials, mainly asbestos within the building, it seems like everywhere we look under a certain floor tile, there’s more of this black mastic that has asbestos in it,” he said. “So we’ve had a lot more asbestos abatement than we anticipated when we first started the project … but we’re almost done with that part where we can really start to do the actual demolition work.”
The former hospital also shares a wall with Network180, which is staying in its space on Fuller Avenue. That presents a challenge: Crews have already had to separate utilities, and they will also have to carefully peel apart the two sides before tearing down the hospital…