Demolition of former Whitefish hospital complete
<p>Dominic Cerulli and Larry Matson as the site of the former North Valley Hospital building in Whitefish.</p>
The site of the former North Valley Hospital in Whitefish has been scraped bare. All that remains is a cluster of mature trees fronting Highway 93 and the original flag pole that once stood in the hospital’s entry courtyard.
In a symbolic gesture of finalizing the six-month demolition effort, project manager Dominic Cerulli and lead excavator Larry Matson on Thursday hoisted an American flag to the top of the pole and shook hands. A job well done.
“Everything is gone,” Cerulli said. “The only thing we saved was the flag pole.”
Beginning last October, crews began tearing into the nearly 100,000-square-foot vacant structure with the intent of restoring the property to open green space. Riverbank Properties, LLC, which is owned by part-time Whitefish resident Michael Goguen, purchased the 11.67-acre property on the corner of U.S. 93 South and East 13th Street.
During demolition, crews salvaged as much material as possible. Concrete and bricks were pulverized for backfill, steel went to Pacific Recycling, and copper and other metals were recycled as well. Roofing foam was salvaged and donated to Habitat for Humanity. An underground diesel tank was removed from the site under the supervision of the Department of Environmental Quality.
Cerulli said some challenges arose when crews encountered unforeseen hazardous materials in the building, but otherwise the project went smoothly and without issue.
Underground utilities were marked and capped and the property is ready for development. All that remains is to dress the site with top soil and grass seed, which Cerulli says will happen this summer.
Cerulli has said Riverbank Properties has no specific plans for the site going forward.
The old hospital was left vacant when North Valley Hospital moved in 2007 to their current campus. Various proposals to develop the prime real estate have come forward since then, but none have made it beyond speculation. The site has 640 feet of frontage along the Whitefish River with views toward the Swan Range.