Demolition nearly complete at former Harrison Hospital campus

The former Harrison Hospital building in Bremerton is counting down the final days during the last week of September. The final stage of demolition -- which began this summer on the overall campus, starting with the emergency department on the facility's south end -- is now focused on tearing down the hospital's tower that stands along Cherry Avenue.

When the final structures are removed and rubble is trucked away, the site will be graded and planned for potential development that will include residential growth.

The hospital, which opened in 1965 in the Sheridan Park neighborhood, began its road to departure after its owner, now known as Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, moved operations to a new $500 million campus off Ridgetop Boulevard in Silverdale in December 2020, the same year the hospital was renamed St. Michael Medical Center. An emergency room at the hospital remained in operation through July 2021, according to Kitsap Sun archives.

Background: Demolition planning underway for old Harrison Medical Center campus

Permits for demolition were approved in February , after lead and asbestos abatement began nearly a year ago, in fall 2023. As previously reported by the Kitsap Sun, the overall demolition project includes about 24,0000 cubic yards of cut and fill, and site grading to prepare the 465,000-square-foot site for mixed-use development. No plans have been announced for potential future uses or sales.

More: Harrison is going away, but part of the old hospital will live on -- here's how

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Demolition nearly complete at former Harrison Hospital campus