(La Porte, IN) - The much anticipated demolition of the old La Porte Hospital began Monday after having been replaced nearly three years ago with a new hospital a short distance away.

 

The work started with skid steers ripping pieces of metal trim and other items from the surface on the main level of the seven story structure, which opened in 1972.

 

La Porte resident Bill Netzer, who was part of a demolition crew that cleared the former downtown industrial site for the hospital to be constructed, went down memory lane as he watched the beginning of the tear down.

 

“The reason we got the job was we guaranteed it to be down at ground level for $84,000 in eight weeks,” he said.

 

The seven acre site housed a former Allis Chalmers machine shop that was no longer operating when the farm machine manufacturing company donated the property to construct the hospital, per Leigh Morris, President and Chief Executive Office of La Porte Hospital from 1978 to 1999.

 

The community was previously served by the long-established Holy Family Hospital and Community Hospital, which no longer exist, he said. Morris went on, noting that the hospital was a symbol of the community banding together for six years to negotiate a merger of the two hospitals, raising money to help build what was then a state of the art facility.

 

He said the hospital also represented “a major step forward in terms of health care for the community.”

 

Until now, all of the demolition work occurred strictly on the inside.

 

Gary-based Brandenburg Industiral Service Company was hired to tear down the building which should be finished before the end of the year, said Ashley Dickinson, CEO of Northwest Health.

 

La Porte Hospital, later known as I-U Health, was purchased by Community Health Systems in 2016 before becoming Northwest Health in a rebranding of the private health care provider. Northwest Health also has hospitals near Valparaiso and in Knox.  

 

Dickinson said the former La Porte Hospital site will be graded and seeded to prepare it for redevelopment at some point. No decisions have been made on what the site will become.

 

“Our end goal is to develop it with the right partner and, in accordance with the vision of the city,” she said.

 

La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody said one of his ideas is to turn the space into some type of public gathering area, with events to further downtown revitalization.  He also mentioned new housing and retail as among the other good possibilities for the property.

 

“There’s a variety of options and I look forward to seeing Northwest Health’s leadership on this and how the city can support it,” he said.            

 

Dermody also complimented Northwest Health for working with the city in the ongoing process of determine future use of the property.

 

“We appreciate them including us with some of our ideas.  We’re excited to see for the future what this is going to look like,” he said.

 

The new $125 million four story Northwest Health hospital opened in the fall of 2020 about a block away at 1331 State Street.

 

Netzer credited the demolition crew with its work, so far.

 

“They’re separating the steel from the paint.  They’re professionals,” he said.

 

Morris said the demolition “marks a time of sadness and reflection” but also a necessary step probably into the future

 

“Times change.  Things have to change with the times.  I’m very, very sorry to see that building go.  I think it had a lot of assets to it but if it didn’t meet the needs of the people going forward then, perhaps, the best thing to do is to replace it,” he said.