The Subtle Destruction of Winona Hospital

Winona Hospital once again caught my attention as I was driving by it. As I went down Illinois Street, I could've sworn I saw an opening. It looks like someone jammed a crowbar into the wooden board that boarded up the entrance. I didn't get much closer, but I did see a few tools near by. Some of the boardings seem to be pretty solid, while others might've had some work done on by squatters or homeless in the area. I made a call to 911 to alert them, but it was already reported. I'll be making a phone call to the Mayor's Action Center to inform them as well.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reported that a recent effort to sell the site has failed. The city of Indianapolis will try again and make the deal more attractive by writing off the tax bill attached to it.

Winona is just one of many eye sores in this city, but this has an easily reachable owner. The city. I asked Mayor Greg Ballard earlier in the week who to contact to advocate for some of the utility sale money to be used to spruce the place up, but he said that the building is a part of some long term plan. Since the city has owned it, it has practically ignored it. I hope his plan for the former hospital site has something instore for it, and soon. We can't have these blights with the Superbowl or other big-ticket items in town.

UPDATE: I drove by the site on my way to a meeting and it appears the door has been shut and locked this time around. Let's hope it stays that way. Kudos to whoever got out there to secure the building. If you don't want it to happen again, squatters and the homeless know law enforcement generally don't waste time patrolling neglected and abandoned properties until neighbors start complaining. Get more of a presence in the neighborhood, and Winona will stay safe.