The Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital will go out with a whimper, not a bang.
After months of planning and salvage operations, the long-awaited demolition of the Mary Hitchcock Hospital will begin in two weeks. There will be no explosions, but a five-month process of destruction, according to Reed Bergwall, associate director of facilities planning and overseer of the project.
Yesterday, the College selected the Bianchi-Traison firm of Syracuse, N.Y. to handle the demolition, Bergwall said.
The actual destruction process will not begin until August, he said.
Prior to the demolition, crews will install a fence around the old hospital. Then, the crews will remove all non-masonry materials like roofing materials and ceiling tile from the building, Bergwall said.
According to Bergwall, two large excavators, which can reach nearly three stories high, will pull down smaller buildings in the hospital complex.
A crane with a wrecking ball will demolish higher structures within the complex.
Salvage operations are currently being conducted in the building, as crews work to salvage equipment, pipe and wire from the old edifice.
The space the hospital presently occupies will be turned into "replacement parking" to counteract the loss of parking space that will occur when the College begins work on a new psychology building and steam tunnel extension south of Maynard Street, he said.
The College plans to start construction on the new psychology building in the spring.
In a previous interview with The Dartmouth, Director of Facilities Planning Gordon DeWitt said two-thirds of the hospital will be destroyed to make way for north campus expansion.
The Rope Ferry Buildings will survive the demolition.
