Demolition of Grace Hospital begins

by Mitchell Brandner

Grace Hospital is being demolished after standing abandoned for nearly a decade.

The initial stages of the demolition began this week with crews starting to remove debris and asbestos from inside the building. The demolition of the building structure will begin after the debris has been cleared.

Ward 2 Coun. Ron Jones said it is time to bring the building down.

“The purpose of the demolition is the fact that it has been an eye-sore for about seven years,” said Jones. “The developer was not able to do what he was commissioned to do.”

The city acquired the site in November 2012 but Jones said the plan to demolish the building has been in the works for roughly two years.

As of now, there are no definitive plans for the property after the hospital is torn down but Jones said there are some ideas being tossed around.

“We’ve been negotiating with the community for a church, a community centre, a banquet hall and other retail opportunities,” said Jones.

The hospital has been around since 1918 when it was established by The Salvation Army, but there was no hesitation in tearing it down according to Jones.

“After investigating it, it did not have the historical interest we thought it might have initially.”

Wade Bondy, a City of Windsor engineer, is the project administrator looking after the demolition.

“The demolition will take about five months including the abatement work and the demolition itself,” said Bondy. “The contract is for approximately $4.1 million.”

After being a fixture in downtown Windsor for nearly 100 years, the time has come for the city to move on from Grace Hospital.