As nice as Andersonville is, that little area is the “ghetto” part of Andersonville…trash on the streets, beer bottles, etc. It’s not a bad area, really, just a bit lower-class than the areas south. I think the Mexican bakery across the street closed a few months ago, so there’s even less traffic.

A note about the complex – as the article stated, the original hospital opened in January 1929, but that was only the one, rather small corner building at Hollywood and Ashland. The other buildings were added, starting in the early 1950’s and continuing up to about 1980. Each time they built a new section, they used whatever was the latest color scheme – and it’s almost all done in ceramic tile. There are some really great mosaics (mostly messed up by vandals after it closed).

There are actually 8 buildings in the complex, which is all connected underground by what was sort of like a little subterranean city. There were offices, wood shops, laundry, kitchens, a cafeteria, radiation labs, morgue, etc. all down under the buildings, parking lots, sidewalks (on Hollywood and Ashland) and even beneath part of the alley. All of that is now flooded and sitting in stagnant, very funky water for a number of years. The pumps that used to keep everything dry stopped running after the electrical system failed and was then stripped of copper by looters.

The damage and vandalism done by looters, graffiti vandals (not “artists”) and others over the years has really made a mess out of the place, but it’s really hazardous to go in there now. The black mold from all the water leakage is everywhere and you can even smell it walking by the buildings outside. The chronic water damage and then freezing has weakened areas of the structures and there’s also a significant amount of asbestos and other hazardous stuff still in there, some of it ripped apart by the looters seeking the metal pipes inside for scrap. Enjoy the pictures because that’s about as good a look as you can safely get anymore. Thanks for the article and pics.

It sounds like the new developer is set to close on at least a portion of the property (the old parking structure and possible some other outbuildings) and start demolition immediately. There will be another closing on the rest of the structure (including the main building) at a later date, but I’m willing to be that demolition of that takes much longer given the absolute certainty that there is asbestos and lead present that will need to be removed prior to any structural demolition starting.