Former Pennsylvania hospital being demolished

A former hospital in the western Pennsylvania town of Jeannette in Westmoreland County, is being demolished.

According to the website, www.triblive.com, demolition of the former Monsour Medical Center has begun. The hospital has stood empty for nearly 10 years.

According to the article, the deteriorated facility along Route 30 had become a dangerous eyesore for the community and a target for thieves, vandals and arsonists. The report notes, that when the hospital closed in 2016, equipment, furnishings, patient records and medical waste remained in the hospital and several smaller buildings.

A $1.1 million contract was awarded to Dore & Associates of Michigan to remove asbestos and other hazardous materials on the 6.4-acre site.

The buildings contained asbestos floor tiles and adhesives that had to be removed before the structures could be torn down. Asbestos removal on the main facility's distinctive multistory tower will continue as demolition begins on the smaller buildings.

Work to demolish the tower is expected to begin in January, and the site could be cleared of debris by the end of March, he said.

The hospital was built in the 1950s by four Monsour brothers, all doctors, and was run for years by a private board of directors. The county land bank purchased the property for $15,172 at a tax sale in 2014, the report says. The site will be remediated and marketed for redevelopment.

The land bank will remediate the site and market the property for redevelopment.