Land Ready For Development After Monsour Medical Center Demolition

JEANNETTE (KDKA) -- It took 16 months to get rid of it, but the "Monsour eye sore" is finally gone, and now about six acres are available for prime development in Jeannette.

The only thing left of the Monsour Medical Center is a few broken bricks. Demolition is over. Now comes development.

"We're nearing the beginning of the end, finally, of a very long and difficult process," Westmoreland Co. commissioner Ted Kopas said.

Kopas is referring to the county's Request for Development proposal -- essentially 55 pages asking prospective developers "what do you want to put here?" and "how are you going to pay for it?"

"Certainly since we began this long process, we've had a number of developers, business folks, who had some general ideas," Kopas said. "Nothing specific at this point."

Specifics are now, however, exactly what the county is looking for. The application shows pictures of what Westmoreland County officials would like to see -- page after page of permitted land use for the once derelict hospital turned green field.

"We want to make sure the developer we choose, the project that is chosen, has merit and is going to be seen through," Kopas said.

Proposals are being accepted between now and August 7. Then the county decides who gets a shot at making the space a better place.

For residents, anything is an improvement over what used to be there.

"I would like to see something multi-story. Professional jobs," Jeannette resident John Howard said.

"I would like to see an office complex for tax bases for our city, which is much needed," resident Donna McCullough said.

If all goes as planned, they'll render a decision as to who gets to develop the land by Sept. 7.

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