Blog: Safety Complex Updates

Week 37: Marian Wing Demolition Continues

Renascent crews continue the demolition of the Marian Wing. An employee is hosing down the site to control dust.

Renascent crews continue the demolition of the Marian Wing. Employees routinely hose down the work zone to control dust.

This week at the Public Safety Complex reconstruction site, the takedown of the former St. Mary's Hospital Marian Wing is continuing.

Renascent crews are also making the final disconnect of the West Wing, which is being razed, from the hospital's iconic original 1929 Building, which will anchor eventual private redevelopment on the north end of the vacated hospital campus.

The City is investing $40 million to repurpose the former Professional Office Building, Central Wing Annex and Women's Pavilion into a complex that will house Police Department, Fire Department administrative, City Court, Pension System and E-911 operations. The City is spending $6.5 million to clear the north end of the site so that it can eventually be redeveloped privately.

Besides the 1929 Building, the Magdalen Clarke Tower is being preserved. The tower is being rejuvenated by Lincoln Memorial University for use as classrooms.

Here is an aerial photo, taken in late October, that shows the progress in transforming the site from a cluster of vacant, unneeded and obsolete hospital buildings into what's shaping up as a safety complex:

Aerial photo, taken in late October, showing the progress in transforming a vacated hospital campus into a Public Safety Complex.

Meanwhile, other tasks are being completed by contractor crews in early November.

Renascent is continuing to sort debris and haul away metals from the site. Last week, its employees began a demolition, by hand, of the water tank in the St. Joseph's Wing.

Environmental Abatement Inc. crews are mobilizing a crane to remove the cooling towers from the roof of the Professional Office Building. They are also working to demolish the Central Wing Annex mechanical room.

Messer Construction, meanwhile, has completed the demolition of an unneeded corridor between the annex and the Women's Pavilion.

Below are a few additional photos of the work underway at the North Knoxville site:

A worker cuts and removes bolts in the slab in the Women’s Pavilion.

Here is a close-up view of the piles behind the Central Wing foundation wall. In recent weeks, Blount Excavating Inc. has been excavating soil in preparation of the foundation wall being pinned as a means of holding the slope in place while the remainder of the Central Wing is demolished. However, the discovery of the piles may make the pinnings unnecessary, if tests show that they're sturdy enough. Either way, safeguards are being taken to fully protect the nearby historic 1929 Building.

Posted by evreeland On 06 November, 2020 at 11:26 AM