An Eastern Kentucky housing agency is working with community organizations to turn an abandoned hospital into homes.
Frontier Housing received an almost $2 million grant to clean up Hayswood Hospital in Maysville. The Brownfield Cleanup Grant was awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Frontier is currently looking to hire a consultant who will be paid to oversee the project. That person will also select a qualified environmental cleanup firm that will be responsible for removing hazardous contamination like lead and asbestos in the hospital.
Tom Manning-Beavin is the President and CEO of Frontier Housing, he said the cleanup will accomplish several things.
“First off, it’s important to remove those materials so they aren’t in the lived environment in Maysville, Kentucky. The next reason to do it is that in order to reuse that building, the materials need to be removed. In order to make the use of the building safe going forward. And three, we really, really want to see this building return to its former grandeur,” said Manning-Beavin.
Officials said the hospital will be turned into a mixed-income residential building.
Manning-Beavin said the project is a community effort.
“It was a project that was important to the city and the county. They identified it as a project they would love to see addressed in their community, and so we looked at what was possible. All of us, the city officials, county officials, our colleagues at Buffalo Trace Area Development District, all of us identified the remediation of the environmental hazards as the very first step.”
Notices of request for proposals will be accepted until 4 p.m. on March 28. The request provides specifications and requirements for qualified environmental engineering firms to lead cleanup activities.
More information can be found here.