Court proceedings set to begin next month could chart a path for the future of Malden Hospital, which has been vacant since closing in 1999. | File photo.
By STEVE FREKER
MALDEN— It has vacant since closing in 1999, but court proceedings set to begin on March 13 could chart a clear path for Malden Hospital’s future.
A jury trial in a four-year-old lawsuit brought against the city of Malden by the owners of the hospital building and property, Hallmark Health, is scheduled before Middlesex Superior Court Judge Bruce Henry.
Hallmark Health filed suit against the city in 2013 over what it claimed are invalid safety violation citations involving fire safety sprinkler system, fire alarm and emergency lighting. Hallmark also claimed the citations were politically-tinged with alleged links to the city’s desire to take over control of the land at the hospital site.
Henry reportedly has encouraged the city and Hallmark to reach a settlement agreement before the start of the trial. Court proceedings could include a jurors visit to the hospital to get a look at its condition.
It’s been nearly two decades now since the last patients were treated at what was once one of Malden’s most recognizable landmarks.
Since Malden Hospital closed its doors as a full-time, fully-equipped medical facility the building has remained vacant. Being empty hasn’t kept it from being controversial.
Events unfolding on the hospital grounds on Christmas Eve, 2004 ended in scandal with a veteran Malden Police detective sent to prison for his role in a scheme involving three kilos of stolen cocaine. There are even rumors of ghosts taking up residence in the now rundown building.
Straddling 17 acres on the Malden-Medford line, the hospital land is one the city’s prime development sites subject to construction proposals and public hearings over the years.
Hallmark Health’s latest proposal for the site, according to reports, calls for single-family housing to be built on the site. A 2015 purchase and sale agreement reached by Hallmark with the Fellsmere Housing Group calls for an extensive redevelopment plan for the site including a mix single-family homes coupled with 72 condominiums and a 224-apartment complex.
But that proposal received little support at neighborhood municipally-organized meetings held last year. Other obstacles plague the site’s development. Demolition of the existing building has been estimated at about $3 million and city officials have claimed in the past that Hallmark’s apparent insistence that proposed buyers foot that bill have hampered marketing and potential sale of the property.
Periodic discussions over the years have focused on the city taking the hospital site through eminent domain and Ward 3 City Councilor John Matheson has kept the Malden Hospital redevelopment issue on the front burner since he first joined the council in 2009.
Formed 18 months ago, the Friends of Fellsmere Heights (FoFH) has strongly advocated for a commitment by the city to preserve the site as open space. FoFH has formally presented detailed plans on how the hospital site could benefit the city and the region as open space with trails and passive recreational park space.
Steve Freker is a correspondent for the Item. He can be reached at [email protected].