PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — A Pawtucket judge this month gave the city permission to board up and secure all openings at the long-defunct Memorial Hospital, citing “concern for public health and safety.”
The Pawtucket Municipal Court order, signed Oct. 7, comes as city leaders have become increasingly critical of the lack of stewardship at the rapidly deteriorating hospital, which has been shuttered for years.
In recent years, the campus has been targeted by trespassers and vandals, resulting in broken windows and doors. Lockwood Development Partners, the property’s current owner, hasn’t made progress on a plan to transform it into housing and a wellness center for veterans.
SEE ALSO: New Pawtucket medical facility ‘in the early stages’
“It came to a point where it became a public safety issue,” Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told Target 12. “So the city went to the court system and the court gave us the order.”
Care New England took over Memorial Hospital in 2013 and decided to close it in 2017 after years of operating losses. Lockwood purchased the property for $250,000 in 2021, but has allowed the facility to deteriorate.