If Alberta Health Services follows up on its current budget plans the former Picture Butte Hospital will cease to exist sometime over the next year.
The Town of Picture Butte has learned the building, mothballed for the last decade or so, has been included in the 2010-2011 budget and will be demolished. Mayor Terry Kerkhoff confirmed the town has heard from AHS as to its plans to fund the demolition in this fiscal year which runs from April 2010 through March 2011.
The building had earlier been slated for demolition but the work was delayed by the change over from a regional based health care board to a provincial health board.
Demolition work on the interior of the building could start in September with work expected to last three to four months. Crews will be dealing with hazardous material including lead paint and asbestos. Demo of the exterior is slated for early in the new year with the AHS expecting to have the site cleaned up and ready for sale by the spring of 2011.
Kerkhoff said at one time the town was looking at putting the former hospital building to use as a central administration office, not just for the town’s administration but also for other agencies.
“We did look at selling it, the problem is we don’t own it.”
With regionalization of the health care system the building came under the ownership of Chinook Regional board until it was rolled into the provincial board.
The town did invest $10,000 in a structural and mechanical assessment of the facility in hopes of securing a buyer or using the building for an expanded library or town office.
Unfortunately the study brought to light the lead paint and asbestos along with the mechanical issues that would have greatly added to the cost of bringing the whole facility up to code. The price tag for addressing all of these issues was in the neighbourhood of $1 million.
Kerkhoff said that price tag didn’t include the soft costs such as painting and other esthetic upgrades. With no guarantee the town could even sell the building once it was brought up to standard, the town declined to take ownership of the building.
“No one was stepping forward with the cash.”
Alberta Health Services did offer to give the building to the town but Kerkhoff said town council felt it couldn’t take the financial risk of trying to upgrade the facility and sell it.
“It was just too heavy a gamble for the citizens of Picture Butte.”
Kerkhoff said he understands there are local residents who would like to see it preserved and there is likely to be an emotional response to its removal but the cost of keeping the building is just too prohibitive.
He said it is better for the town in the long run to see the site put to use whether for public or private use.
“It’s a prime location.”