State Grant Clears Way to Demolish Old County Hospital

State officials awarded a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant on December 17, 2025 to support demolition and site clearance of the former Perry County Memorial Hospital in Tell City. The 89,300 square foot building sits on approximately 6.442 acres overlooking the Ohio River and has been vacant since the county opened its new hospital in 2015. The grant comes from the Blight Clearance Program administered by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and is intended to remove a long standing blight and ready the parcel for new uses.

Environmental hazards identified on the site will be addressed before any demolition work begins. Asbestos has been identified in the structure and an underground storage tank will be remediated. Following abatement, debris will be removed and voids will be filled to create a uniform slope across the property. Those actions are designed to reduce health and safety risks for nearby residents and to simplify future redevelopment steps for the city and potential investors.

The hospital complex traces its origins to original construction in 1950 and later additions, reflecting decades of local health care history. Clearing the property is expected to remove a prominent eyesore on the riverfront and to open opportunities for projects that could strengthen Tell City and Perry County economically and aesthetically. For residents, the immediate benefits include reduced safety risks, fewer environmental liabilities, and elimination of a vacant structure that has stood empty for a decade.

The Blight Clearance Program aims to improve quality of place, encourage redevelopment, and support economic revitalization in rural Indiana. For Perry County, the grant represents a concrete step toward those aims and a chance to attract new investment to a visually and strategically important riverfront parcel. Local officials and community members will face choices about future uses for the site, and the cleared property will be a blank slate for visions that balance economic opportunity with preservation of the county character and river access.