Poll Results
What should Washington County Hospital officials do with the existing hospital building when the new medical center is ready for occupancy?
| Demolish it | 236 votes (23%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sell it | 175 votes (17%) | |
| Lease it | 47 votes (5%) | |
| Give it to the city | 71 votes (7%) | |
| Use it for urgent care | 383 votes (38%) | |
| Something else | 102 votes (10%) |
Comments
- Parts of the existing building could be torn down, especially the newer additions on the front, to allow better access and make it more attractive to a buyer. The grounds, with grassy areas and large trees used to make the site much more attractive than it currently is. Selling it would bring in some revenue for the hospital while tearing down the entire building would be very costly. Unfortunately, the code enforcement people would probably allow the building to sit and fall apart like the old light plant and some of the buildings downtown. Those code enforcement officials who harass old ladies about snow on their sidewalk, threaten you with fines for a flake of paint off of your window frame and grass in your yard that is over three inches high. Maybe we could work it into the "stimulus bill."
- Even giving it away may be better then paying almost 4million to demolish, plus you could keep collecting property taxes on the property. You could also consolidate all the various govt agencies there. Didn't Alshire have this great idea to buy an expensive building for a couple of million to consolidate everything? Why not make this the headquarters for all the govt agencies in this county? One stop shopping and perhaps some savings rather then having the city, county, state, and federal buildings scattered everywhere? I just can't imagine what the private sector would use this for. Just seems a shame to demolish this at a cost of 4 million. Scariest part is that Mayor Bruchey is in control of this and he can't operate a used car lot.
- TO: dlsdls "Unfortunately, the code enforcement people would probably allow the building to sit and fall apart like the old light plant and some of the buildings downtown. Those code enforcement officials who harass old ladies about snow on their sidewalk, threaten you with fines for a flake of paint off of your window frame and grass in your yard that is over three inches high." I wish someone with some backbone would run the city council and get some common sense into the code people - you are right it is hurting the "old" people of Hagerstown.
- Turn it into a senior living facility and urgent care center.
- Having worked in the hospital in the past, and being everywhere throughout the building, from the sub-basement to the penthouse, let me just say the maintenance crew has done an outstanding job taking care of the structure. Yes, the older half is very old, but I feel the building would serve well as a veteran’s hospital or something. I also feel it has some historical value, and would therefore be opposed to the building being demolished.
- Be interesting to see what happens with this hospital. dls, you are quite correct about the code enforcement people in this town. Friend of mine had to replace his sidewalk and you really had to wonder why the code officers made him do it. I remember and article about that back last Spring seems like many people have bad encounters with them.
- bnf, I was thinking the same thing what a cool building to play some paintball in first before its torn down. Could you imagine?
- Sell it and use the money to help pay for the new one.
- How's this for an idea? Let it sit for a few years and deteriorate. You know, cobwebs, dirt, falling plaster, etc. Then, start some urban legends about the place and call in TAPS (ghost busters) to investigate. They love old hospitals, asylums and prisons. Charge people for ghost tours. Shoot movies about insane slashers carving up teenagers and spirits of dead patients roaming the halls seeking revenge on the local doctors. Rent it out for Halloween parties and haunted house fundraisers. Hagerstown people love Halloween. Get Rob Zombie to shoot a movie there and put Hagerstown on the map as the horror movie capital of Maryland. The town and county could help fund it in exchange for putting some of the local officials in the movie. Some of them are naturals. Let's get creative, folks. Yeah, I know. I watch too many horror movies for a guy my age.
- usaguy35, I totally agree with the veterans hospital as well as a VA nursing facility idea. Anyone that's been to Martinsburg VA Medical Center can realize the additional need.
- I'd like to see it become another hospital.. Agroup could come in and compete with the new one. I'm originally from York, PA and there are 2 different hospitals up there that compete with one another. Why not here?
- The problem with making it into another hospital or similar would be staffing. With the nursing shortage we already have, how would one staff another hospital? If the economy ever turns around, it could be sold and re-vamped into an office building or something. As it stands now, I think the economy is in too bad a shape to expect much of anything to be done with it for a while.
- Prediction-NEWS ALERT: The old hospital will be donated to the City of Hagerstown. If/when this happens, Hagerstown will lose tax base and be saddled with upkeep cost, however, the City will not turn it down.
- The outfit that bought the Allegheney Power facility "Vinyaka" will buy it to and compete directly with the new hospital. Fully staffing it with Indian transplant Drs. It will be much more affordible.
- I think several businesses could go into that building. Cost to much to tear it down. City needs to make money not spend money.
- Have the city buy the building, or if "bnfsrg" is correct, and The old hospital will be donated to the City of Hagerstown; GREAT then rent the space by square foot and make some revenue for Hagerstown. I can see this building being used for an Urgent Care facility, with a Free clinic while also being able to support a rehabilitation center for people that have had major surgeries and stoke victims, I believe there is already a floor in the building used for this type of care. It is also large enough to support an assisted living / nursing home care facility. Be smart folks, you already have the building, put it to good use!
- I think having all the local, state and federal agencies in one place is a great idea. That is why it won't have a chance of happening! The movie set idea is a good one too...is "Gods and Generals" looking to make another sequel? How about the Board of Education's headquarters (whoops...the building is too small isn't it?). How about making it a new mega-elementary school and bus every student in the county to it? We could close the rest of the elementary schools, save money, and wouldn't have to worry about redistricting!
- It could be used for an urgent care on first floor, maybe a couple floors for veterans affairs, medical procedures, any other veterans affairs that need to be taken care of and the balance of the room could be used for senior citizen housing.
- The minimum operational cost on that building STARTS at $200,000 per month (tax, upkeep, utilities, security....) Do the math, there will be NO buyers. If they offered that building to me for free, I would not accept it so the City better get ready for their donation:)
- Wait until the city inspectors and code enforcement people get inside that building. Anybody who bought that place would think they died and went to hell, surrounded by demons with clipboards busily making notes. If it isn't demolished it will have company a few blocks away, the deteriorating former light plant, another great place for a horror movie.
- I find it interesting on how amny are complaining about the code violations. My guess is that it is a waste of tax payers dollars. Do you feel the same way about the food inspections that occur in all the local resturants? It would appear no matter what is done to the lcoal hospital it will cost millions of dollars. Espicially if the try to retro fit that building into something else. At that point you all can then complain about spending more of your money.
- bob Obviously you haven't had to deal with some of these inspectors before. Some of the things that I was threatened with huge fines for were a small pile of branches in my garden that I was accumulating before taking to the landfill, pears on the ground that had fallen from my pear tree, a pile of bricks beside my house that I was using to build a sidewalk, "peeling" paint on the window frames (actually scraped off to paint), and some posts in a pile in the backyard being used to rebuild the porch. A friend of mine who owns an apartment was literally screamed at by an inspector for a little bit of grass growing on his sidewalk. He was told that every property owner should be up every morning hosing down his sidewalk and removing grass from the cracks. Yet, the old light plant and some downtown buildings sit crumbling and nothing happens to the owners. Food inspection involves personal safety and I can understand that, but this foolishness is one of the reasons many of us are distrustful of government.
- The VA builds big, expensive, new hospitals.In case you haven't heard, the urgent care location decision has already been made--you just don't know where it is going to be located which is understandable because it is a secret for the superior folks only.Retro fitting the building--of course every building has to be retrofitted because this is America.No bureaucrat worth his bonus would move his folks into a used building that hadn't been retrofitted to the tune of many many dollars.After considerable thought, I think the old hospital should be moved to the vacant property the county commissioners bought in the real downtown and then the county employees can all relocate there.The old supermarket can be used for the urgent care center.And the now empty old hospital grounds can be named the Betty Morgan Park.
- make into housing units for welfare an section 8 people.
- Difficult to imagine any cost effective usage of such a specialized building. Too large, too much remodeling required for any adaptive reuse. If it were demolished, the site would be a nice location for a park in the downtown. Hold concerts there, the Blues Fest, etc.
- jca The problem with using the grounds as a center for such things as the Blues Fest is that the hospital is located in a residential area. Such events are better held in the Fairgrounds Park (more isolated and better parking)or the Municipal Stadium. Also, the configuration of the land is difficult for such events and the lot is really not that large. That is why the complex is so crowded with buildings. The building sits on a hill that slopes downward in the front and back. Tearing down parts of the building and using a limited section may be a possibility. The building and the land may be a white elephant like the light plant and the recycling plant. That end of town may become a museum of obsolete structures.
- I say turn it into a senior center or perhaps some type of teen center. There is nothing around here for the teens. Perhaps even the housing authority could utilize it by constructing affordable housing for the low income elderly citizens!! It would be ideal
- I think the building could be used for many things - an assisted living facility, urgent care, nursing home, etc. It seems like a waste to just tear it down.
- It should be turned into an apartment complex with a grocery store on the first floor. This would add jobs, tax revenue, and housing to downtown, as well as a legitimate grocer to the downtown area that would be within walking distance of residents. It would also satisfy the zoning restrictions in the area. I have seen places like this in Arlington, Virginia and wondered why we didn't have anything like it up here.
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Nov 2, 2009 03:15 PM