What to do with the old county hospital, which will become vacant by mid-fall when Allen County Regional Hospital opens on North Kentucky Street, is more on the minds of commissioners. COMMISSIONERS met in two executive sessions totaling 25 minutes to discuss what they might want to include in a contract for Iola to operate a countywide ambulance service. They took no action.
“We should be out of the hospital (First and Madison streets) by Nov. 1,” said County Counselor Alan Weber, who has coordinated activities of hospital trustees.
“What do we do then,” was the accumulative question of Weber and commissioners Friday morning.
Weber said a firm in Topeka that specializes in redeveloping old properties might have an interest, “but not until after the first of the year,” when the firm will be eligible for a new set of tax incentives and may be in line for bond financing through the state.
Meanwhile, Weber said commissioners should consider maintenance of the nearly 60-year-old building, so it doesn’t slip into disrepair while vacant.
That’s a tendency, said Commissioner Tom Williams, that buildings seem to degenerate quickly after they become vacant.
Weber said commissioners should set aside money — he mentioned $10,000 a month — for utilities, upkeep and other costs.
“I hope it doesn’t sit idle all of next year,” he said.
Williams asked Weber to contact a person who deals with abandoned state properties, to pick his brain.
No specific uses for the building have surfaced, built to meet 1950s medical needs.
Commissioners mull use of old hospital
