Watch: Much of St. Joe’s Hospital collapses

FORT WAYNE, Indiana (WANE) — A 6-story section of St. Joseph Hospital in downtown Fort Wayne was demolished Tuesday night.

Video shared with WANE 15 showed a large section of the structure collapse. Traffic flowed on Broadway and local residents watched the activity, which kicked up a cloud of dust after the section was dropped.

According to a representative from Britt Demolition and Recycling, the project’s contractor, the demolition was planned.

Crews have been dismantling the old hospital on Broadway and Main Street for several months since the Lutheran Hospital Downtown opened a block west in November 2021.

The demolition is fraught with problems.

In February, a contractor working at the site suffered severe burns and was hospitalized in “life-threatening condition”.

Then, in June, a demolition contractor cutting steel started a fire in a wall of the building that sent brick onto Main Street below. The main street was closed as firefighters warned the building was in danger of collapsing.

Demolition was halted last month after part of the structure collapsed on a crane.

Britt told WANE 15 that the demolition should be complete by January 1.