The City of Sarnia has received a pair of proposals to fill the vacant former Sarnia General Hospital site on Mitton St. Solicitor Scott McEachran says they'll be reviewing them over the coming weeks to ensure the plans fit with the neighbourhood. "Everybody wants to see that cleaned up, especially the neighbours around the site," says McEachran. "We've reached out to them and got some feedback on it. We've sent the results to each of the bidders, so hopefully they factored that in to their submissions." Asbestos removal and demolition is expected to cost upwards of $9-million and, in February, the city said provincial funding was no longer on the table.
The land has been appraised as having no value, but if it were vacant it could be in the $1.7-million range. The building has been the target of vandalism and theft in recent months, and Sarnia police have said 24-hour surveillence of the property is cost prohibitive.
