Iowa Hospital to Demolish Part of Building Damaged in Derecho

A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, hospital plans tear down part of a building that sustained significant damage in a derecho that tore through the community in August.

The Des Moines Register reports that Resource Center at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital sustained $400,000 worth of damage in the storm.

“Rather than reinvesting in this building, hospital officials made the difficult decision to demolish parts of the building before the end of the year,” the hospital said in a news release.

Demolition is expected to begin Oct. 26. Two of the three wings of the Resource Center will be demolished entirely.

The top four floors of the third wing will be demolished as well, but the wing’s lower level classrooms, auditorium and tunnel system to the main hospital will remain intact.

The original wing of the Resource Center dates back to 1917, when it was constructed as the St. Luke’s Nursing Education Building. It housed the St. Luke’s School of Nursing, which graduated more than 2,500 students between 1892 and 1987. It was renamed the Resource Center in 1986, and since has been used as office space non-clinical departments of the hospital and for area not-for-profits.