By Bonita Wilborn
According to information given by Mayor Larry Chesser, at the Fort Payne City Council meeting on Tuesday, January 23rd, environmental studies have been completed and plans are being made to go forward with removing the badly deteriorating structure in the center of town that once housed DeKalb General Hospital, (aka: The Fort Payne Hospital).
The current plan is to seek grant money totaling almost $900,000 to cover the demolition and removal of the building.
According to Chesser, he has already met with grant writers from Montgomery and the process of seeking federal funding will soon begin. If the city is unable to secure enough grant money to totally demolish and remove the structure, a portion of the existing building can be saved to renovate and use as a community center/tornado shelter. However, if the amount needed to completely remove the crumbling edifice is secured through federal grant money, Chesser has hopes of a senior living facility someday being built on the site.
Either way, the eyesore that is currently located on the lot has become dangerous and needs to go. Not only is it a gathering place for drug addicts and other unsavory characters, but also the people who live in the area often see kids playing on the roof of the decaying building.
Even with the grant writing having been started, the process will still take several months to complete, but the hope is that by the end of the year a definite schedule will be in place for a beginning and ending demolition date.
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