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Edgewater Medical Center Demolition Plan Finally In The Works

By Linze Rice | January 31, 2017 1:48pm | Updated on January 31, 2017 2:49pm
 Owners have filed for permits to tear down the Edgewater Medical Center site.
Owners have filed for permits to tear down the Edgewater Medical Center site.
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DNAinfo/Linze Rice

EDGEWATER — The owners of the former Edgewater Medical Center have filed for permits to tear down the hulking structure, moving them a step closer to redeveloping the site.

Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) said developers with MCZ Development filed applications on Jan. 24 to demolish some of the western buildings on the campus at 5700 N. Ashland Ave. to make room for a green space that will be owned by the Chicago Park District

The parcels to come down would include buildings that housed the hospital's rooftop pool, helipad, cancer center, apartments used by former employees, medical equipment and more. 

Currently, large portions of those buildings are unsecured — in some places completely open and semi-submerged in standing water. 

Officials have said rats and asbestos inside the buildings must first be eradicated before the buildings can be torn down.

Photographers and adventurers have been known to secretly enter the building for over a decade, now an infamous structure among urban explorers. 

One man who recently took a trip inside the abandoned hospital, Mike Kinsch, took photos inside some of the buildings soon-to-be demolished, as well as other parts of the campus, showing its ongoing state of decay.

The remaining buildings are slated to become new and renovated apartments and parking.