Demolition of St. Elizabeth's Hospital enters new phase in Belleville

Heavy equipment moved to another part of the former St. Elizabeth's Hospital complex in Belleville and the next phase of leveling the hospital's buildings began.

A crane was shearing away the front facade and top floors of the former Prairie Heart Institute on Tuesday. That building's demolition is scheduled to be finished in May.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital communications manager Kelly Barbeau said razing the surrounding hospital buildings will continue through mid-2019 and is progressing as scheduled. The hospital's parking garage was the first part of the demolition project.

Some health services continue near the former hospital. St. Elizabeth's Physical Therapy Services are available at 180 S. Third St., Suite 30. The Imaging Center, Belleville, is in the same building and provides mammograms and X-rays.

Other milestones of the hospital's demolition will be the sky walk over West Lincoln Street in the fall and the main hospital building beginning in November. The main hospital was built in 1875.

Once demolition and cleanup are complete, the 14-acre lot will be available for development by mid 2019.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital in O'Fallon was built to replace the Belleville hospital and opened in November.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Demolition of St. Elizabeth's Hospital enters new phase in Belleville."