Copyright M Live Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A six-story former hospital building off I-196 in Grand Rapids will be demolished as part of Kent County’s plans to relocate its administrative services. The Kent County Board of Commissioners approved $5 million on Nov. 6 to demolish the former Kent Community Hospital at 750 Fuller Ave., a 162,000-square-foot building that has sat vacant since last fall when Corewell Health moved out. The demolition will make way for Kent County to build a new administration building on the county’s Fuller campus, a project previously estimated to cost around $92 million. Construction crews will begin tearing down the building in March, said Tim Bradshaw, Kent County’s facilities director. The county is planning to move 187 of its staff out of its current downtown office, at 300 Monroe Ave., and into the new administration building on Fuller Avenue, which is still in the design phases. The new building will house staff from the offices of the county clerk, treasurer, register of deeds and equalization. It will also include administration, human resources, veteran services, fiscal services, purchasing and information technology. The Kent County Board of Commissioners will also meet at the new administration building. The county’s administrative services are currently located in the three-story, 66,000-square-foot Kent County administration building downtown, next to Grand Rapids City Hall and Calder Plaza. It was built in the 1960s and shares a public parking garage and a front lobby with Grand Rapids City Hall. County officials began discussing moving some services out of downtown after a 2023 space needs assessment found that the current administration building lacks convenient access and parking and has a confusing layout, all of which inconveniences residents seeking services at the building. The study recommended moving the administration building to the county’s Fuller campus to provide free parking for customers, improved building layout and easy highway access. County officials were previously considering trying to repurpose the old hospital building instead of tearing it down, but that was estimated to cost up to $108 million. The building was previously home to Kent Community Hospital and was later leased by Corewell Health. Corewell moved out last fall to build its own facilities, and the building has sat unoccupied since then. The county held an informational meeting last week to share the demolition plans with neighbors who live by the former hospital building. Once the design and engineering work is completed for the new building, the plans will be brought to the Kent County Board of Commissioners for approval. The building at 300 Monroe Ave. is expected to be refitted and modernized after staff move to the Fuller campus. Once completed, around 244 employees from the county’s 82 Ionia Ave. building will move into the updated 300 Monroe space. This will include staff from the circuit court probation, friend of the court and the prosecutor’s office. This would leave 82 Ionia vacant, and the county intends to sell the building as the final step.
