Audrain County hospital demolition underway; new city hall planned
Alison Patton
MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)
Parts of the Audrain County hospital are being torn down as the City of Mexico prepares to build a new city hall and public safety facility.
The county is taking charge of the demolition of the Stribling House and the former county health department building at the site, city manager Bruce Slagle told ABC 17 News.
Flowmaster Construction is working on the demolition and has notified the Missouri Department of Natural Resources of the asbestos at the site. The information online notes that demolition will be completed by the end of September.
The main hospital is also slated for demolition, but a timeline, cost and contractor haven’t been worked out yet. Slagle said the hospital needs to be rebuilt, and the city is negotiating with Boone Health.
“There continues to be good progress made, but we’re not at a point where we can release any information publicly,” Boone Health spokesperson Christian Basi said.
The city is also working on design plans for a new city hall and public safety facility in the former hospital’s cancer wing. Mexico Mayor Steve Haag said the city was considering building from scratch, but renovating the cancer center would save millions.
“That option allows us to save upwards of seven to $8 million of tax payer money,” Haag said.
He said city offices, along with the fire and police departments, would be housed there. It would take a couple of years before the building is move-in ready.
Mexico resident Benjamin Jeffery said a new city hall is necessary, since the old one often floods, but some people are caught up between public health and public safety.
“Yes, we need a new city hall, we need a new fire department and stuff like that. But then they’re also torn between we have no emergency care here,” Jeffery said.
He also said the nearest hospital is in Columbia, which is 45 minutes away, and it could take up to twice as long in an ambulance because there’s only so many of them.
“Any possibility of anything that could happen, am I going to need a hospital or not? And not having one–It scares a lot of us because we know we need to go to a hospital should an emergency like that arrive, but are we going to make it? Is the biggest fear most of this town has,” Jeffery said.
Mexico lost its hospital in 2022 after the Noble Health Group announced it was suspending operations in Callaway and Audrain County. ZivaMed later took over but also laid off workers and closed Audrain Community Hospital in early 2024. Noble Health owned a hospital in Fulton that also shuttered.