Tacoma asks county to clean up, secure shuttered hospital

The city of Tacoma has a question for Pierce County: When are you gonna clean up the derelict heap formerly known as Puget Sound Hospital?

The county’s answer: We’re working on it.

The back and forth, wrapped in more polite language, comes in the form of a Sept. 8 letter from City Manager T.C Broadnax to County Executive Pat McCarthy, who responded with a letter of her own Thursday.

“The City is interested in the County maintaining the property in a nuisance-free condition and having the building secured from unwanted third-party entry,” Broadnax’s letter states.

“I share your desire to maintain this property in a nuisance-free condition and secured from unwanted entry,” McCarthy’s letter replied.

The old hospital complex, at 3520 and 3580 Pacific Ave., was closed by the county in 2010. It’s the intended site of a new county administrative headquarters, but a citizen referendum on the November ballot could disrupt that plan.

Meanwhile, the empty, cold-shuttered building has lured transients and metal thieves. In February, Tacoma police corralled four people who were later charged with stealing copper wire and fixtures from the building and selling it for scrap.

Broadnax’s letter refers to that problem, as well as graffiti, broken windows and cut fencing along the perimeter of the complex.

City Councilman Marty Campbell adds that the building is a headache for police and the neighborhood. He and other Tacoma leaders know about the county’s long-term plans for a new headquarters on the site, but the referendum leaves them wondering how the county will maintain the building if voters kill the project. Voters already strongly opposed building the headquarters in a nonbinding ballot in August.

“We had 120 calls for service in the previous year to that site,” Campbell said. “You had criminals using it as a base of operations. It can’t stay in the condition it’s in because it’s a blight in the neighborhood. Just because they can’t move ahead right now on it doesn’t remove the responsibility of taking care of it for the neighborhood.”

The new building project includes a plan for demolition at a cost of $1.5 million to $2 million, according to county staffers. Originally, the demolition was scheduled for this past summer — but the costs are woven into the overall plan for the new headquarters, and can’t be separated without action from the Pierce County Council.

The base cost of the headquarters project is pegged at $127 million and rises to more than $230 million when financing is included.

“Until that project is voted on by the people, we’re on hold,” said Bret Carlstad, the county’s director of facilities management. “The county could choose to fund (demolition) separately, but right now it’s an element of the overall project.”

Carlstad and co-worker Mike Poier, who keeps a direct eye on the site, said workers have repaired damaged fencing and welded shut some doors to discourage entry. The county executive also underlined the county’s commitment to securing the hospital site.

“It’s in all our interest that we have a solution,” McCarthy said Wednesday.

The county’s response letter adds that damage from vandalism is cleaned up as it occurs, and that a contracted security firm patrols the site regularly.

“The proper solution to issues connected to this property is the demolition of the structures,” McCarthy’s letter to the city states. “Until that occurs, we at the County are and remain committed to keeping this a safe and secure site.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Tacoma asks county to clean up, secure shuttered hospital."