TRENTON, Mich. – Community members have mixed emotions about the demolition of the Riverside Osteopathic Hospital in Trenton which stood for more than 20 years.
A downriver community is saying goodbye to a longtime hospital that closed its doors in 2002. Demolition at Riverside Hospital in Trenton began earlier this week.
The hospital, which opened in 1944, saw its last patient in 2002. The building has been vacant ever since.
It’s still in the early stages of demolition, residents came out Saturday to take pictures and say goodbye to the building that was home to many memories over the years.
Former employee and Trenton resident Susan Cummings described it as bittersweet. “I’ll miss it,” Cummings said. “I still remember those hallways and watching it just come crumbling down is kind of sad, but it’s exciting to watch.”
Chris Cullen, who lives a few doors down from the former hospital, also shared fond memories of it from over the years. “A lot of advantages in some way living by the hospital, (we’d go) to the cafeteria sometimes in the morning and get a paper sometimes,” Cullen said.
Over the years, residents said there was talk of bringing back the healthcare facility in some capacity. However, those dreams were never realized.
“It’s sat there so many years now I don’t think they could do anything with it anymore besides tear it down,” Cummings said.
Many residents are looking forward to what will come of the riverside property. “I think everybody around here is pretty happy that something is going to change,” Cullen said.
Trenton Mayor Steven Rzeppa was delighted to see the demolition process begin.
“For far, far too long, our residents have had to deal with blight unsightliness on what could be a beautiful property,” Rzeppa said in a recent news release. “The development of this waterfront site in the middle of our downtown is of paramount importance to the community, and this is another huge step to get that done.”
With mixed emotions, some residents gathered recently to say a proper farewell. “We had a memorial over here a few weeks ago just to kind of say goodbye,” Cummings said.