Parish president says it is time for the vacant building to be gone
Moosa Memorial Hospital, built in 1955 and vacant since 2006, now is targeted for demolition.
On Tuesday, trees were being cut and trimmed on the property in the 400 block of Moosa Boulevard.
St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard announced Monday the building will be demolished. The demolition may spare a building that once served as a cafeteria, he said.
On Monday morning, Bellard gathered Eunice and parish officials to the site.
Bellard explained he met with St. Landry Hospital Service District No. 1 Chairman Newton “Chip” Thibodeaux last week to explain the parish government is going to take the building down because it represents a liability.
“All that board has got to do is resign and they are good. I don’t resign and it is still my responsibility,” Bellard said.
The demolition is expected to take up to six weeks and cost about $30,000, he said.
About $280,000 in hospital district money was used to remove asbestos from the building, he said.
Bellard said he decided in 2020 to act on the vacant hospital that had become a haven for transients and other interlopers.
“We want to bring it down to the ground level and sell the property,” he said.
Bellard also explained the demolition will be a recycling project Concrete will be crushed for use on parish roads, he said. Bellard thinks the bricks can be crushed also for used on parish roads.
The metal in the building will be sold, he said.
“Whatever we can salvage I’m sending to the recycling place” he said.
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot said, “Finally” when asked about the demolition.
“It is pretty big to be honest with you,” he said Monday morning. “It has been an eyesore for quite sometime and I’m very thankful that not only did the ball start rolling you are going to start seeing this thing come down.”
He added, “It is way past time, but I’m thankful for Jessie and his determination to really get this thing done.”
Getting rid of the old hospital was one of the first things he and Bellard met on, he said.
“... from that day on he never stopped trying to find a way to help us get rid of the major problem,” Fontenot said.
Fontenot noted the hospital district funds paid for the removal of asbestos in the building.
“When it is all said and done we will have a very valuable piece of property that is industrial development ready,” he said.
The parish can sell the property and recoup its demolition expenses, he said.
At one point former Mayor Rusty Moody looked into the National Guard demolishing the building, he said.
“People who live and work around here will be thrilled to see this gone,” he said.
Fontenot said he was born in the hospital. Barry Soileau, parish government road supervisor, said he was born there.
Bellard and Fontenot did not have a size for the old hospital and the property, but a hospital built in Arnaudville at a similar time is about 25,000 square feet.