RICHMOND – City funding for the demolition of the abandoned Reid Hospital site was approved this week, amid a growing interest in the property by contractors from around the country.
During a Common Council meeting Monday which saw the narrow approval of a combined $6.6 million in funding for the project, Mayor Dave Snow said at least five additional contractors attended a walkthrough of the former hospital complex on Oct. 10.
Several contractors who participated in the first inspection on Sept. 28 were also on hand, Snow said.
"The second (walk-through) saw not only companies who were so interested they were coming back to gather more data, but new companies that came out for the first time," he said. "So right now, collectively, we have 50 companies that have been through the walk-through process to show interest."
Snow said participating in the walk-through is not required to bid on the project, and he expects more companies that weren't involved in that step to put in bids on the site, which are due to the city Oct. 26.
He said he has been pleasantly surprised by the level of interest shown in the site, which has sat mostly vacant for nearly 10 years.
"When we started down this road with the former hospital project, we hoped that we would get up to 10 different companies interested in bidding on this project, because we knew that would create a competitive atmosphere," he said.