NIMISHILLEN TWP. − The nearly 100-year-old Molly Stark Hospital is coming down.
Crews will move equipment over the weekend, and the demolition begins the week of Oct. 6, with Gary Moderalli Excavating serving as the contractor.
Stark Parks officials want to demolish the hospital buildings because of safety concerns about the deteriorating structure and contamination of cancer-causing asbestos.
“This will resolve a longstanding problem in our community,” Executive Director Dan Moeglin said.
Last year, the park district secured an Ohio Brownfield Grant for asbestos abatement and demolition of the hospital. The grant covers 75% of the nearly $2 million project.
The park district will contribute $150,000 and the Stark County Lank Reutilization Corp. will contribute $300,000 to cover the 25% local match. The Stark County commissioners will contribute the balance of local match funds needed.
Commissioner Alan Harold said he’s grateful for the collaboration between the local agencies and the state to fund the needed demolition.
“It unfortunately has been an eyesore and a hazard for the community for too many years now,” he said. “It’s best that we find a way to return that property to more productive use.”
The former hospital was built in 1929 and has been abandoned since 1995. The original network of buildings cost an estimated $1 million to construct. Tuberculosis patients were treated there until the 1970s. Other uses for the buildings included a mental health facility and alcohol and drug rehabilitation center.
The park district acquired the property in 2009.
The buildings have a history of break-ins, which prompted the park district to construct a fence around the structure in 2015. The surrounding Molly Stark Park was closed in April 2024 after demolition plans were made public.
The demolition is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Moeglin said the park will remain closed at that time.
There are no solid plans yet for the future of the park.
“We will be working with the local community to help sort out the long term future of the property,” Moeglin said.
Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@gannett.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Say your goodbyes. Stark Parks demolishing the nearly 100-year-old Molly Stark Hospital
Reporting by Grace Springer, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
