Truckers on Thursday began digging up and hauling away a giant pile of construction debris from the site of the old Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital site. The 7,000 tons of debris have been a major issue in the surrounding neighborhood and residents put pressure on Common Council members to force removal. On Tuesday, Council President Darius Pridgen said he would not approve an unusual financing program for developer TM Montante unless the hill was removed.
Montante Development Director Byron DeLuke says his company was able to find a contractor who needed the fill immediately.
"That is a big pile. It is going to require a significant amount of work to remove from the site," DeLuke said. "This has been a very important issue for not just our neighbors at Canterbury but all of our public stakeholders [and the] entire community. So, we're happy that we were able to find an off-taker this early in spring to start getting that out of there."
The council is likely to vote next Tuesday on a legal maneuver that would allow Montante to finance its construction plans for the site and start work this year. The next stage of the project would be for the Council to again approve sale of a Linwood Avenue parking ramp to Montante to provide parking for the entire Gates Circle complex.
DeLuke says the financing change and purchase of an adjacent city parking ramp would jumpstart construction and prove to lenders there would be parking space to serve residential and commercial customers on projects to be rehabbed or built on the site. The next phase of the development could include the construction of new buildings and/or the adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
"There are significant items we have been working on for a long time, that if they fall into place, they're like dominoes on the board that put us in a much better position to move construction projects forward. The Article 16 area designation is a very significant piece. The parking garage and acquiring ownership is a very significant piece," he said.
DeLuke says the ramp would accommodate 750 vehicles.
