Almost gone: Demolition of former Community Hospital nears completion
Published 1:20 pm Thursday, August 24, 2023
- The former Natchez Community Hospital is almost gone. Demolition is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. (Jan Griffey | The Natchez Democrat)
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
NATCHEZ — The demolition of the former Natchez Community Hospital is almost complete.
What is next for the space remains undetermined.
Christian Wroten of River Park Realty is property manager for the former hospital site as well as the physician and other medical office space in the front of the hospital on Jeff Davis Boulevard.
“The demolition should be completed in a few weeks — two or three weeks,” Wroten said. “The hospital is basically down now, just going through and removing the debris remains.”
Wroten said the owner of the property, JR Real Property LLC, has not decided if they are going to sell the property on which the hospital sat, or if they are going to develop it themselves.
The 101-bed hospital opened in 1973 and operated for more than 40 years, closing in 2015.
Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said taking the hospital down creates opportunity for all of Natchez.
“I am so excited about what Richard and Kim LaNasa and Johnny Bordes are doing in Natchez,” Gibson said. “It has been a while (since) I first met them and they expressed interest in that site, and it has been a long time coming. To see them now taking this old building down to make way for new opportunity is reason for all of us to celebrate. We talk all the time about what the future holds and I hope sometime soon they will be able to share more details of exciting plans for Natchez.”
Gibson said the location is in the heart of the city’s new commercial medical district and the LaNasas and Bordes have an opportunity to partner with Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Natchez as well as the Tracetown Shopping Center.
“Those places should work really well in our long-term plans,” Gibson said. “And everyone will end up the winner. They are connecting with consultants even as we speak who have a great track record in medical economic development and I hope what they do will work well with the hospital and physicians’ offices and other medical developments to create the healthcare hub we all want Natchez to become.”