The building, abandoned for years and falling apart, was a piece of Biddeford history and an early hospital and nursing home outside the city’s downtown area.
Biddeford city officials announced in December the building would become a thing of the past with the hiring of abatement professionals to remove debris and furniture from the 70-year-old building, located at 355 Pool St.
Director of Code Enforcement Roby Fecteau said in December the co-owner of the building, South Portland-based First Atlantic Healthcare, had begun signing contracts with demolition contractors.
That required the work be done in the warmer months so the water wouldn’t freeze.
The building was constructed in 1945 as a hospital and later converted into a nursing home. In 1992, it was sold to Pool Street Realty Trust for $403,869.
Fecteau said Wednesday demolition may take until next week while crews remove steel from the building and work to crush the concrete structure.
“They’re trying to pick out all the steel,” Fecteau said Wednesday. “I don’t have an estimated time, maybe perhaps by the middle of next week.”
Representatives from First Atlantic Healthcare could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
A 94.3 WCYY article from October described the building as “what nightmares are made of,” due to its desertion and decrepit nature. According to that article, the hospital was fully operational until 1969, when it merged with the former Webber Hospital. It then spent several years as a nursing home until it was abandoned in 2005.
As of 2016, the 36,425-square-foot building was assessed at $1.4 million according to city records.
The former hospital has also appeared in several online videos, in which trespassers have journeyed inside at night. The building, however, is restricted, and trespassers may be prosecuted if caught.
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.
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