Blog: Safety Complex Updates

Week 23: Crews Working in 8 Different Hospital Buildings

As planned, more of the walls at the former St. Mary's Hospital campus in North Knoxville are coming down. This week, five contractors have deployed teams to eight different hospital buildings.

Most noticeable to passersby: A Renascent excavator is reaching more than 100 feet skyward to pull down the bricks of the former patient tower at the Central Wing, one floor at a time. Renascent crews are also continuing to strip out the St. Joseph's Wing.

The patient tower in the former Central Wing is steadily being reduced, one floor at a time.

The patient tower in the former Central Wing is steadily being reduced, one floor at a time.

Meanwhile, Environmental Abatement Inc. continues working on LL2 of the Central Wing Annex (pictured below).

EAI is also selectively demolishing the interior of the Women's Pavilion, which is being repurposed, while also removing equipment from the top floor of the Professional Office Building, which is also being rejuvenated.

LL2 of the Central Wing Annex: interior demolition

LL2 of the Central Wing Annex: interior demolition

Above, below: Interior demolition on LL2 of the Central Wing Annex

NEO Corp. this week will continue abatement in the West and Marian Wings, while Del-Air and Messer Construction contractor teams will continue working on utility and building separations as part of the preservation of the iconic 1929 Building.

By the end of 2021, the construction will be nearing completion, and the vacated hospital will look a lot more like a Public Safety Complex. The City of Knoxville is investing $40 million to overhaul the site and transform it into combined offices for Police, Fire, City Court and Pension Systems operations.

Another $6.5 million is being spent by the City to clear parts of the northern end of the campus to create opportunities for future private redevelopment. It's here that the 1929 original building will anchor the next wave of redevelopment.

On the eastern end of the campus, Lincoln Memorial University is remodeling the former Magdalen Clarke Tower into classrooms.

Posted by evreeland On 28 July, 2020 at 6:21 PM