Former Mary McGill building demolished to pave way for Alliston hospital's expansion

Demolition crews turned the former Mary McGill building in Alliston to rubble, marking the start of a significant, long-awaited expansion for Stevenson Memorial Hospital.

"We've worked for over 10 years to get to this date, so it's an exciting day for the community," said the Alliston hospital's president and CEO, Jody Levac.

The former Mary McGill facility built in 1938 was first used as a nursing residence before transitioning to the community mental health clinic.

The RAAM clinic is open in the Mary McGill Community Mental Health Centre in Alliston, Ont. on Fri., Feb. 22, 2019 (CTV News/Krista Sharpe)

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"By 2030, Alliston and surrounding communities will be over 100,000 people. We need to have a facility that can meet the modern demands of health care. We're seeing over 40,000 patients to a building that was designed to serve 7,000," Levac stated.

Officials hope the early work projects will be completed by next year, allowing the expansion work to begin in 2025.

"We have submitted a plan for a 152,000 square-foot expansion on our current 60,000 square-foot building, so we'll be over doubling, tripling the size of the hospital, triple the parking. It will be an all-new emergency department along with all single-occupancy patient rooms, increasing the inpatient bed capacity by 20 per cent," Levac added.

The community is almost three-quarters of the way to its $43 million fundraising goal.

"We have some early capital cost estimates, but you know, the inflation in the market, the current construction costs, it's hard to really actually get a quote at this point, an accurate quote," Levac said.

A 50/50 draw launched at the start of November will see proceeds going straight to the redevelopment.