BIDDEFORD — Driving down Pool Street, it’s hard to miss the former Notre Dame Hospital building. It sticks out like a sore thumb, with its boarded windows, chain link barrier and caution-taped exterior.

But Biddeford officials said Thursday that the building — a piece of Biddeford’s history — may be even more a thing of the past, as abatement professionals are currently in the process of removing debris and furniture from the 70-year-old building.

Director of Codes Enforcement Roby Fecteau said the co-owner of the building, South Portland-based First Atlantic Healthcare, is in the process of signing contracts with demolition contractors, and that he expects the building to be torn down in the spring.

“We’re expecting that the demolition will be done in the springtime, but they have to clean this facility out prior to that,” he said. “The only thing they’re doing right now is (removing) debris from the building and removing furniture,” he said.

Fecteau said the building has asbestos and other harmful debris that necessitate a water source for continued abatement, which would mean the work would have to be done in the warmer months when 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. 

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 Webber Hospital. It then spent several years as a nursing home until it was abandoned in 2005.

As of this year, the 36,425-square-foot building is assessed at $1,432,800, 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 can be prosecuted if caught.

Fecteau stressed that plans to tear down the building are by its owners and not by the city. Representatives from First Atlantic Healthcare could not be reached for comment on Thursday. 

Fecteau said more information about the planned demolition will become known in the coming weeks as the building’s owners progress through the necessary legal processes.

“In the coming weeks, there’ll be more to follow,” he said. “We need a written plan of action.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.