GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A former hospital building in Grand Rapids will be torn down next spring as part of Kent County's plan to relocate its administrative offices.
On Nov. 6, the Kent County Board of Commissioners approved a $5 million appropriation for the demolition of the former Kent Community Hospital on Fuller Avenue.
Around a year ago, Corewell Health moved out of the six-story, 162,000-square-foot facility and it has since sat vacant. In its place, Kent County plans to construct as five-story, 120,000-125,000 square-foot administration building.
On Wednesday, I toured the former hospital, now in its final days.
WATCH: A tour of the former Kent Community Hospital
In an interview with me last month, Kent County Administrator Al Vanderberg said the move comes as an attempt to better serve residents by consolidating county operations.
Kent
Kent County to move administrative offices out of downtown Grand Rapids
"We believe this is a huge win," Vanderberg said at the time.
"The vision is to have a facility where customers can drive right up. Walk in. Walk out," he said. "The stress of trying to find their way through a building that's unfamiliar to them — and having to pay for parking — is gone."
Kent County's administrative offices are currently located on Monroe Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids. Upon the demolition of the former hospital and the construction of a new administrative building on Fuller Avenue, though, these offices will move into the new facility, a short distance from where the Kent County Sheriff's Office and Health Department are already based.
Then, the Kent County Prosecutor's Office, based in a building on Ionia Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids, will move into the old administration building and the former will be sold.
The combined costs of moving, demolishing, designing and constructing are estimated to cost between $120 and $135 million, according to the county.
Demolition of the former Kent Community Hospital is set to begin in March 2026.
