University of Missouri plans demo project

The University of Missouri is advancing plans to demolish a former hospital it owns, with a university board intending to keep the property for an as yet undetermined redevelopment purpose.

According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, the University of Missouri System Board of Curators has approved a $10 million demolition plan for a building currently known as the Mizzou North building. The structure was built in 1940 as the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital.

In its more than 80 years in existence, the building also has operated as the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and then became the Mizzou North Building when the university acquired it. It has housed university Museum of Art & Archaeology and Museum of Anthropology collections in recent years.

The eight-story building has 223,000 square feet of space, according to the newspaper. Redevelopment plans for the land beneath the building have not been announced, although funding is tied to the university’s Strategic Space Reduction Plan.

The timing of the demolition process is not yet clear, with the Tribune reporting the plan calls for the building to be taken down by January 2024.

Bids sought by the University of Missouri System Procurement Services are posted here.