A federal grant awarded Thursday will help to start the process of demolishing the former nursing home at 1305 N. 22nd St and replacing it with new housing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the city $250,000 to help pay for identifying and removing contaminants like asbestos from the building. That kind of cleanup is required before the building can be demolished, according to Vickie Reeck, the city’s community and economic development manager.

She said the city will contribute $50,000 from its abandoned buildings fund.

The city’s first step will be hiring an environmental consultant to plan and oversee the removal of asbestos. The actual removal work won’t start until that plan is done.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Boards cover broken windows in the back portion of the old Greenleaf Care Center at 1305 N. 22nd St. The city of Fort Dodge has received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pay for removing asbestos from the building before it is demolished.

”It would be nice to have it done this fall,” Reeck said.

She said the work will be similar to the asbestos removal completed recently at the Wahkonsa Annex at First Avenue South and 10th Street. While city officials are keeping all options open regarding renovation or demolition of the Wahkonsa Annex, the old Greenleaf Care Center will definitely have a date with a wrecking crew.

Reeck said once the building is demolished, one or two single family houses will be built there, and the remaining property will be dispersed to adjacent owners.

She said the building was vacated in about 2014. The city took ownership of it in April 2015 under the terms of the state’s abandoned buildings law.

The former Greenleaf Care Center is a roughly L-shaped building containing 86 rooms. The original part was built in 1935. A one-story addition was built in 1965 and a two-story addition was constructed in 1974.