Officials say deal will lead to demolition of vacant hospital

The old Southeastern Kentucky Baptist Hospital building in Corbin has new owners and steps are already underway to have the problematic eyesore torn down.
Corbin City Attorney Bob Hammons announced Tuesday that the Kentucky Communities Economic Opportunity Council (KCEOC) Friday closed on a deal to purchase the old hospital and about five acres on Mitchell St., near 4th street for $20,000.
The city is also negotiating with Baptist Regional Medical Center on the purchase of a parcel of land on the corner of Mitchell and 4th Street, adjacent to the old hospital.
“I think the mayor has been in contact with the hospital, but I’m not privy to those negotiations or anything,” Hammons said.
“I think the whole idea is to really make that a nice development up there.”
KCEOC Executive Director Paul Dole said the agency plans to build either apartments or single-family houses on the site.
“We try to do mixed housing, low income and moderate income housing so that it is a blend for the community,” Dole said. “There is a definite need for this type of housing in Corbin and throughout Eastern Kentucky.”
The property has been vacant for almost twenty years. The building has been the frequent target of vandalism and Corbin building inspectors condemned the building twice. The city has tried unsuccessfully to have owners Robert Taylor and Larry Jerffries demolish the building and clean up the property.
One of the biggest problems in the building’s removal is the presence of asbestos in ceiling and floor tiles and insulation on pipes in the building. Asbestos is a known carcinogen.
According to officials, if the city forced demolition, it would be responsible for the prohibitive costs. The cost of removing the asbestos was estimated at between $1 and $2 million.
Mayor Amos Miller said the hospital was something he had been working on since he became mayor and he was extremely happy to finally see it sold.
“One thing we wanted to be sure happened this time was that this was not just another ploy to just put it off, but this is the real deal. That was my thing. I was not going to let that happen. This will be followed through and see that it gets done,” Miller said.
City Commissioner Phil Gregory said the hospital has been a topic before the council for a long time.
“This has been something we have talked about for a long time and we just didn’t know who to get a hold of. We didn’t want to put it in somebody else’s hand and let it sit there for another five years. These people will do something with it,” Gregory said.
No timetable has been set for the demolition of the building, but Dole said they have already been talking to representatives in the office of 5th District Representative Hal Rogers (R Somerset) about finding federal funding for the project.
“We will be working with the congressman’s office to obtain grants and because we are non profit we have to follow federal regulations and it will take some time to do the paperwork,” Dole said.
“One of the big concerns is that there is asbestos in the building, and there’s a possibility of an underground tank, we’re not sure until we go in there,” Dole continued.
Dole said no city, county or state tax dollars would be used in the project.
“This eliminates the eyesore that sits right in the middle of town, and as we develop the property itself, it creates better housing for the community. Hopefully as the property is sold off, if it is individual housing, it will create some tax base and actually increase taxes in the city and increase the overall population of the town,” Dole said.
Gregory gave all the credit to Miller for getting the sides together and getting the deal done.
“We had some preliminary meetings with Congressman Rogers’ office and I got some hope that there were some grants out there to take care of this type of problem,” Miller said.
“I talked to Mr. Hammons and then we got KCEOC involved and talked to Mr. Taylor the previous owner and came to an agreement with him and we got her done after that,” Miller said.
“Our plan basically will improve the entire community and remove an eyesore that has been here a long time and really needs to go down,” Dole said.
Dole said the first step was to work with Rogers’ office as quickly as possible and obtain grants to tear the building down.
Dole asked for patience from the community.
“Don’t expect it to be torn down over the next year. It is going to take some time to get through the paperwork and get the funding in place. Once that’s done we have to make sure we follow all the regulations to get it torn down,” Dole said.
Dole said projects like this were what the KCEOC was all about.
“As a community action agency, we are here to change lives and improve communities, and this fits right into our promise to improve the community,” Dole said.
Corbin has had a string of problems with the building since it was abandoned almost twenty years ago.
The old hospital was once owned by the city of Corbin but was sold to Southeastern Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries for $1. Plans for a low security “halfway house,” office buildings and a Veteran’s facility have fallen through in the past.
The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, ordered the city to board up and seal off all ground level entrances to the building after asbestos was found in part of the building.
The plywood covering on the windows and doors did not keep looters out. A Corbin couple was later cited for illegally salvaging scrap copper from the building even though signs warning of the asbestos danger had been posted.
The hospital became the topic of controversy in 2002 when a disagreement over ownership arose between Jeffries and Taylor. Taylor later bought the property for $1,000.
The city is also currently involved in a lawsuit filed by local attorney David O. Smith on behalf of E-Z Demolition Inc., claming the city has been negligent and discriminatory in enforcing property maintenance laws and allowing the hospital to “fall into total disrepair.”
Hammons said the suit was still pending. “We’ll just have to work through that. I’m very optimistic we can get a resolution to that,” Hammons said.