NAMPA -- The old Mercy Hospital in Nampa must come down.
Demolition crews were out today nearly four months after the historic building was damaged by a fire.
The initial demolition work is contained to just the south wing of the building.
The owner of the demolition company told KTVB the demolition began this morning and should take about three weeks to complete.
However, this is the only section of the building that his crew has been contracted to tear down. That means the original hospital will remain standing, at least for now.
Mercy Hospital was built in 1919, but hasn’t been operating as a hospital since 1967.
The new owner of the building announced plans to demolish the building after fire ripped through it around the new year.
We’ve seen neighbors stopping by all afternoon to catch a glimpse of the demolition firsthand.
One man told us he is happy to see the building go.
“Honestly, I think it should've happened a long time ago, the building has been condemned ever since we got here,” said neighbor Jared Fleshman. “I think there's more useful purposes for this lot, just because the building standing here has just been a problem for the community, just because it's drawing in so many troubled youth that are using it as a refuge for whatever illegal activities they may be using it for.”
We did reach out to the owner of the building to see if plans are still in place to demolish the rest of the hospital. Our calls were not returned.