Stay Informed
If you want to be kept informed about any updates to our web
site, enter your email in the box below.
Thursday,
April 24, 2003
End OF A Health-Care Era:
Highland View Regional Hospital Set For Demolition This Month by Darrell Cole
HOSPITAL
COMING DOWN - After being a focal point of local
health care for more than a century, Highland View
Regional Hospital is just a shell of its former self
as crews from Moncton Demolition Limited continue
the work of demolishing the old building. Shown above
is an interior picture of the demolition work. A
38-tonne excavator is coming to town later in the
month to actually knock the former hospital to the
ground. (Cole)
AMHERST
- The remnants of Highland View Regional Hospital will likely
be brought to the ground lather this month. "We're expecting
to have the demolition equipment on site later this month and
will begin bringing the building down soon after that," Jule
Belliveau of Moncton Demolition Limited said Monday during
a tour of the former hospital site. " Everything is on
schedule here right now. We're in the process of removing what's
salvageable and preparing for the completion of the demolition."
A gargantuan 38-tonne excavator is being shipped to Amherst on three trailers
to complete the task of pulling down the brick building and it's expected to
arrive sometime after April 21.
Workers from the Moncton-based company arrived on the site soon after being awarded
the contract and taking possession of the building in early February. While it
appears as though work is going slow in the former hospital, Belliveau said there's
actually a lot more to the demolition than removing the building.
"The first thing was to go through the building and remove anything that
might have been toxic," Belliveau said. From there, workers have gone floor
by floor and room by room removing anything salvageable and preparing the building
for demolition.
Power and heat were cut off to the main part of the hospital a couple of weeks
ago and the final pieces of scrap are being collected at the rear of the building
for removal and salvage. Also, once the building has been taken sown, company
officials will work to salvage the structural steel before moving on to site
remediation and cleanup. The target date for the project's completion remains
July 41 and Belliveau feels Moncton Demolition will have no difficulty meeting
that deadline.
The property has been fenced in since the demolition project began and Belliveau
said the community has been very cooperative in staying clear of the site. He
added, it's very important for people to observe the caution signs around the
property and resist the temptation to scale the fence in search of souvenirs
since the property is a work site and may be dangerous.
A focal point of area health care for more than a century, the old hospital became
obsolete when the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre opened in Upper Nappan
last October. The Cumberland Health Authority originally had 90 days to demolish
the structure and remediate the property, but was given an extension by the Department
of Health.
Once the demolition is completed, the site will be turned over to the Cumberland
Health Care Foundation, which has been give the responsibility and the challenge
to develop the project to its greatest potential. The net proceeds from the project
will be used exclusively for equipment for the new hospital.
