Demolition of Winona Hospital Begins 10.10.11

WIBC

Seven years after Winona Memorial Hospital went out of business, the city has begun demolition.
With Mayor Greg Ballard, Children's Museum CEO Jeffrey Patchen, and neighborhood residents watching, a hydraulic excavator resembling a giant pliers tore loose the stylized "W" on the front of the abandoned building, then set to work ripping away chunks of brick.

The whole building will be down by Halloween. The city is talking with the Children's Museum about redeveloping the site into a mixed-use development, with a green playspace for children anchoring a warren of housing and retail. Patchen says the museum has a vested interest in revitalizing the neighborhood.

Ballard, who delivered meal trays to patients as a teenager, says housing is a requirement of the federal grant paying for demolition and redevelopment.

The 48-year-old hospital closed in 2004 when the owners couldn't pay their taxes. Five years later, the city took possession when no one bid on the property at a tax sale.

The city has tried and failed to sell the property since -- Ballard blames the recession. He says demolishing the building will improve the neighborhood, and make redevelopment easier.

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