A huge steel claw on the end of a piece of heavy equipment tore away at the former Newcomb Hospital on Monday morning, slowly ripping apart the back of the building.
The result will be 70 assisted-living units and 140 independent-living units for seniors, veterans and the disabled. Other plans for the site, including a new home for the city’s emergency medical services unit, are still being considered.
A cost for the project, being developed by Newcomb Medical Center Alliance LLC, wasn’t available. Company officials couldn’t be reached for comment.
But developers told City Council earlier that they intend to do the work in phases, as it will result in easier financing.
Plans call for saving some of the ornamental wrought-iron railings still in place on exterior, upper floor balconies. Also to be saved is the arched stonework, inscribed with the hospital’s name, that stretches over the hospital’s original entrance.