Next chapter of Ireland Army Community Hospital demolition project swings into action

By Eric PilgrimAugust 3, 2022

Next chapter of Ireland Army Community Hospital demolition project swings into action
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A wrecking ball operator begins making fast work of crumbling the nine floors of old Ireland Army Community Hospital Aug. 2, 2022. The wrecking ball was brought in recently to level the top five or six floors of the hospital until low-level equipment can be used to finish the demolition project. (Photo Credit: Eric Pilgrim, Fort Knox News) VIEW ORIGINAL
Next chapter of Ireland Army Community Hospital demolition project swings into action
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A wrecking ball operator begins making fast work of crumbling the nine floors of old Ireland Army Community Hospital Aug. 2, 2022. The wrecking ball was brought in recently to level the top five or six floors of the hospital until low-level equipment can be used to finish the demolition project. (Photo Credit: Eric Pilgrim, Fort Knox News) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT KNOX, Ky. — A team of engineers have opened a chapter in the continuing saga of demolition of the old Ireland Army Community Hospital.

While Phase 2 of the project has been ongoing for over a year, the massive nine-story facility still stood over the Fort Knox landscape unscathed— a sight people have become accustomed to since it opened for business in 1957. All that changed on Aug. 2.

Next chapter of Ireland Army Community Hospital demolition project swings into action
(Photo Credit: Eric Pilgrim, Fort Knox News) VIEW ORIGINAL
Visit Fort Knox’s official Flickr site HERE for more pictures of the demolition project.

Officials from the Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville brought in a large crane, attached a 10,000 pound wrecking ball to it, and have begun work to demolish the high-rise wings of the facility. Corps of Engineers project manager J. Scott Hennig said the wrecking ball is necessary to safely tear down the top five or six floors of the building.

Next chapter of Ireland Army Community Hospital demolition project swings into action
The then state-of-the-art Ireland Army Community Hospital’s anticipated completion was celebrated in with a front page cover story in the July 15, 1955 edition of Inside the Turret. The hospital opened two years later. (Photo Credit: Inside the Turret archive image) VIEW ORIGINAL

Once the engineers reach a safe height with the wrecking ball, they will resume final demolition of the facility with low-level destruction and cleanup equipment, Hennig said. The wrecking ball portion should be completed in about six to eight weeks.

Hennig explains the need for the wrecking ball HERE:

Army Corps of Engineers project manager J. Scott Hennig speaks to Fort Knox News on Aug. 2, 2022, about the need to use a wrecking ball to further progress on demolition of the old Ireland Army Community Hospital.