City of West Frankfort to close on former hospital site

By LEIGH M. CALDWELL

The site of the births of thousands of Franklin County residents, which later became an eyesore and, some say, a danger to the public will now be a grassy field owned by the city of West Frankfort, at least for a little while.

The former UMWA Hospital building in West Frankfort was torn down in stages last year, and recently the land has been leveled and cleared.

Later this week, the St. Louis Street site will officially become city property.

It’s the end of a long saga for city commissioners, stretching back to previous administrations.

“I would like to thank the commissioners, and the previous administration, for working on this,” Mayor Tom Jordan said at Tuesday’s nights West Frankfort City Council meeting. “We’ve been able to turn a negative into a positive.”

The city will officially close on the property on Thursday. Jordan said a volunteer has offered to level the land and plant grass there. Commissioners hope to eventually find someone who would like to buy the site and build on it.