Preliminary plans are underway for the repurposing of a splendid and historic three-story one-time hospital in Bisbee, Arizona.
The structure, sitting on the crest of a small hill, for decades served as a medical facility for workers at the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company, back when that company operated one of the largest copper smelting plants in the state.
The company eventually merged with the Phelps Dodge Corporation, which, in turn, was purchased by Freeport-McMoRan in 2007.
Located at 1 Hillcrest Drive, the former hospital was eventually closed and repurposed in the mid-1950s as the Hillcrest Apartment Building.
Today the building, overlooking several residential neighborhoods, serves as a reminder to many of what Bisbee once was: a city of around 10,000 people nestled in the middle of a thriving silver and copper mining industry.
But once Phelps Dodge ceased its copper mining operations in Bisbee in 1975, the city’s population experienced a precipitous decline. Latest Census figures peg Bisbee’s population at around 4,900.
According to city documents, the exit of so many people resulted in the abandonment of around 25% of Bisbee’s housing stock: “In the heart of Old Bisbee sit 50 houses abandoned by former miners.”
The document adds: “Many of these structures are uninhabitable or require significant costs to rehabilitate.”
Now the Environmental Protection Agency has announced the awarding of a $468,000 brownfield cleanup grant designed to clear the old hospital site of everything from metals to debris. An earlier survey also identified both asbestos and lead-based paint in the building itself.
Bisbee officials say that once a cleanup of the building and site is completed, an effort will be undertaken to transform the building into affordable housing.
In a statement, Melissa Hartman, senior planner with the City of Bisbee, said the grant will help the city address it’s “critical needs.”
By Garry Boulard
