Whether it’s senior housing, a commercial kitchen, a mental hospital, affordable housing or some combination of those or other ideas, town and county officials are highly interested in figuring out the future for the old Angel Medical Center.
More than a dozen community leaders met with officials from Givens Communities midday Dec. 6 at Franklin Town Hall to discuss uses for the roughly 13-acre tract of land and the 70-year-old, 132,000-square-foot former hospital in downtown Franklin.
Givens Communities is an Asheville-based nonprofit organization with experience in developing senior housing. The Town of Franklin hired Givens in late October to provide consultant services for the property. A feasibility study by SFCS Architects to see if the old hospital would be good for senior living is slated to be finished by February 2023.
According to Andrew Crosson, Givens Communities project development coordinator, there’s a lot of space in the hospital that will not be used for living space, even if most of it is used for senior living, as Givens would like. The Wednesday meeting was an attempt to see what others think that space can be used for and what could be viable.
The land and building are currently owned by HCA Healthcare, which opened the new Angel Medical Center in September off the Highway 441 Bypass. Since moving, HCA has offered the property and building to the Town of Franklin under the stipulation that it not be used for anything that competes with services the hospital provides. The town is waiting for the feasibility study before accepting the land, a point Town Council member Rita Salain reminded the group of.
Stephens said that HCA has indicated they plan on keeping the doctors’ offices and that the study is only focusing on the main parcel of property. The main parcel includes the hospital building and undeveloped land west of the helicopter pads, down to the corner of Riverview and East Main Street.
Some of the parking for the old hospital, including along Riverview Street and along White Oak Street at Medical Park Drive, are different parcels owned by HCA.
The land including and west of the helicopter pad would need a topographical study to determine if it’s buildable property, Crosson told the group.
Ideas for property
No decisions were reached Wednesday, but one option was roundly dismissed: doing nothing.
“What I don’t want is for that building to sit over there and deteriorate and be another old Walmart for 15 years,” said Chuck Sutton, executive director of Macon Program for Progress. “Sitting right in the middle of our town, it will destroy our town in a number of different ways.”
Another consensus was the townspeople’s emotional attachment to the old hospital. Attendees spoke about having their children at the hospital or having their loved ones die there. Mayor Jack Horton said that many people’s parents and grandparents contributed money to the construction of the building in the 1950s and 1960s.
“There are a lot of families here who have relatives who invested not only their livelihoods, but their finances in that facility, so they have close attachment,” Horton told the group.
Crosson said he’s heard ideas for mental health, housing, senior services and education. Affordable housing, specifically for seniors, was mentioned throughout the meeting by multiple people.
Sheila Jenkins of No Wrong Door said there’s been a sharp increase in homeless seniors.
“When our elderly is homeless, it’s not just not having a home, their health deteriorates much faster,” Jenkins said. “It’s something that has really become a problem over the last year or year and a half.”
Crosson said 267 units are needed for housing in Macon County. Out of those, 167 are needed for seniors, and 71 are needed for seniors at 50% or below the medium income.
According to officials present, 90% of federal housing vouchers are being turned back because there’s a lack of affordable housing.
Jenkins later said there’s a need for transitional housing for former incarcerated persons and those recovering from substance abuse.
“I have them living in tents and still trying to work a job, and they go to the community building to get a shower,” Jenkins told the group about the people transitioning from detention or treatment facilities her organization works with. “These are the people that’ll keep Macon County going, and they’re lost.”
Jenkins and Jennifer Hollifield, administrative officer for senior services of Macon County, also spoke about the effects of fentanyl use in the community, with Jenkins saying the use and overdose numbers are “staggering for our small county.”
Hollifield said there’s a need for space for senior center programs, saying the current space is at capacity.
Besides the limited space in the basement, Crosson said the hospital has 81,000 square feet on first floor, 42,000 square feet on second floor and 16,000 square feet on the third floor. Part of that big space on the first floor is the commercial kitchen.
Hollifield and others talked about utilizing the kitchen for senior services’ meals and possibly providing Macon County Detention Center meals. Another idea included leasing out the kitchen to an outside group, who would then provide services for the county while operating a business out of it.
“It’s a robust commercial kitchen that was serving a hospital and the seniors,” Stephens stated.
Other ideas mentioned by Salain included using the space for classrooms, including trade programs such as carpentry, and said she wished more school system representatives were in attendance. Sutton said there’s a daycare need in Macon County, which in turn will help attract new families to the area.
Near the end of the meeting, Crosson asked those in attendance to list the strengths of Franklin and Macon County. One person said giving and people’s willingness to give and host fundraisers for those in need. Another said the ability to gather and have discussions between different departments and governmental bodies.
“I think we have people in elected positions and appointed positions, and people who are leaders in the community are willing to work together to try to come with a common goal and common purpose…we hope to continue to build on that,” said John Faye, director of the county’s housing department.
Crosson said they have received “straight up rude” responses in other areas where they’ve worked and complimented Macon County and Franklin officials for their warmth, receptiveness, ability to adapt and ability to listen to each other.