Report: Henryton Hospital to Be Demolished

A state planning official told the Baltimore Sun that work on knocking down the crumbling Henryton Hospital, an empty former tuberculosis hospital in Marriottsville, could start as early as May.

The comments on Henryton’s deconstruction came from Bart L. Thomas, assistant secretary for facilities planning at the Department of General Services, following a March 17 fire at the abandoned facility, according to the Baltimore Sun.

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Henryton was built in the 1920s as a hospital for African-American tuberculosis patients. It’s been closed since 1985 and has been the site of multiple fires and arsons over the years, is rumored to be haunted, is festooned with graffiti and plagued by trespassers.

“Some of the young adults will go into the sewer system underneath the facility and take pictures of themselves in the system … It’s very dangerous,” Dr. Mark Fraser, Sykesville Museum curator, told Patch in June 2012.

Last year, Delegate Susan Krebs, R-District 9B, asked Gov. Martin O’Malley to take “immediate steps” to tear down Henryton, pointing to, among other issues, how fires at Henryton, have repeatedly risked the safety of responding firefighters at the Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department and others.

The March 17 fire at Henryon resulted in no injuries to firefighters, but took “several hours to contain,” according to the Carroll County Times.

There is $3.05 million in the fiscal year 2013 Maryland state budget to tear down the building and get rid of asbestos, the Times reported.

According to the most recent Sun report on Henryton, Thomas said he got “orders from the top to expedite the process” of dealing with the empty facility and state officials recognize its dangers, as it attracts photographers, teens and thrill-seekers who prowl through the crumbling structures.

See related coverage:

Del. Krebs Calls for Abandoned Hospital to be Demolished

WATCH: Dilapidated Hospital Looks Like Horror Show

Henryton Hospital Fires Put Firefighters at Risk

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