CITY WORKING TO FIND LONG-TERM ANSWER AT ABANDONED HOSPITAL

As efforts to secure the former St. Francis hospital continue, City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said the City Council needs to find a long-term solution for the abandoned structure.

He hopes to have a recommendation from the city staff at the next City Council meeting.

"It's a no-win situation for the citizens and the city," he said. "We had hoped the owner would do something."

Peter Kern of Denton, Texas, owns the property. Fischer said city efforts to get Kern to maintain the property have been futile.

Efforts to contact the owner continue, but Fischer said the city should proceed to deal with the situation. The property is poorly maintained and often vandalized.

"It's hard to say what would be the best. We are looking at different legal approaches," he said.

Condemning and demolishing the building, Fischer said, is one option the council will consider. The building apparently contains a considerable amount of asbestos also, he said.

"We are collecting estimates on the cost to remove asbestos and estimates on the cost of demolition," he said.

The cost to condemn and demolish the building could reach as high as $250,000.

"Securing the building is by far the cheapest option for the city," Fischer said. "However, where does that end.

"Anything we do other than secure the building is a long, legal process," Fischer said. "For us to even get ownership through condemnation would take six months to a year."

Earlier this month, the city took steps to secure the building from vagrants and children who were entering the building. On Thursday, police did additional work to re-secure the building, said Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. Someone broke into the building, despite chains on the doors and boards on windows.

"We are putting band-aides back on the building," Boyd said. One of the band-aides was welding the metal doors shut.

Boyd said police will also increase attention at the building. "We are going to regularly patrol the building to discourage people from going in," he said.

Fischer said the city routinely deals with abandoned residential structures each year.

"We budget for that," he said. "But we're talking about $700 to $1,500 per structure for demolition. This is a different situation.

"Because of the size of the building," he said, "the cost of demolition could be a quarter of a million. That's a sizable financial liability the city would be faced with."

At the Sept. 16 City Council meeting, some council members said they would rather incur the expense of condemning the poorly secured, often-vandalized building than risk perhaps a costlier lawsuit from someone injured at the site.

"Right now what we're doing is attempting to keep that building secured," Fischer said. "All the expenses, we intend to pass on to the owner or have tax-billed against the property. That doesn't mean we'll get any of the money back.

"We did notified the owner by registered mail and he did sign, but we haven't heard from him since," Fischer said. "Since he is from out of state, that makes it a little harder for us to get him to accept any more responsibility."