Crews near start of tearing down abandoned Richmond hospital

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - Crews are about to start tearing down an abandoned hospital complex in an eastern Indiana city that's become an eyesore targeted by vandals and thieves in recent years.

Richmond city controller Beth Fields says the demolition contractor is expected to start April 9 on taking down the former Reid Hospital complex.

The (Richmond) Palladium-Item reports workers have been cleaning out asbestos and doing interior demolition since December. The demolition project has an expected completion date of July 2019 at a cost of about $4.3 million.

The complex has gone unused since Reid Hospital moved to a new campus in 2008. The city took over the site after an out-of-state owner stopped paying property taxes in 2011.

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Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com