The former St. Joseph’s Hospital building in downtown St. Paul is slated for demolition after the St. Paul Port Authority voted to move forward with a plan to tear down the site and prepare it for future development. The authority plans to buy the 5.5-acre property for $1 and borrow an additional $6 million for the project.
The hospital, which was Minnesota’s first hospital founded in 1853, has been vacant since its closure in 2019. Fairview Health Services, a nonprofit healthcare network that owns St. Joseph’s, expressed support for the Port Authority’s vision for the site.
The hospital’s emergency room and psychiatric care services were among those to be closed as part of a restructuring plan. Although the hospital was initially set to close in 2020, COVID-19 kept the emergency room open until early 2022.
Since the closure, the Port Authority has been working with Fairview to find a buyer for the site. The demolition project is expected to bring new opportunities for development in the area.
Source: https://www.startribune.com/st-josephs-hospital-st-paul-mn-demolition-sought/601438210