Silos across from CMC to be demolished this fall 

It wasn't supposed to be in the cards this year.

But an unexpected cash injection from a Medicare lump sum adjustment led CMC's board of directors to earmark funds for demolition of the four grain bins across Highway 174 from the hospital, probably this fall.

At the CEO's request, the board authorized up to $275,000 to pay for the work, necessary for "employee safety and creating room for expansion," according to the formal resolution.

"We decided, in keeping with the idea of hopefully getting funding for the tiny home project, that area needs to be cleaned up," said Kelly Hughes at her first board meeting as CEO of the public hospital. "There's that cement and the rebar and all the things sticking up over there. We would really like to get that site ready for future development." 

The plan is to level the buildings and create additional parking for staff or visitors. In the future, hospital leadership hope to build a 30-unit tiny home village for staff nearby, if they secure congressional funding, and they have outlined a plan for an administrative building and a childcare center to follow.

Staff are awaiting a third bid before selecting a contractor and penciling in project dates, but Hughes said the bids so far are half of what their architect projected it would be. 

The site, which includes grain silos and a weigh station, once belonged to Central Washington Grain Growers, Inc.

At the May meeting of Grand Coulee's planning commission, one of Councilmember Gary Carriere's first questions about the proposed tiny home village was what was going to be done with the silos. Ramona Hicks, CEO at the time, said they were going to stay up for the time being, due to the cost to demolish them.

Reached Tuesday, Carriere said he was surprised they were coming down so soon, but that "it will look nicer after they put the tiny homes in without them there."