Former hospital on Texas 29 in Burnet could be demolished
JARED FIELDS • PICAYUNE STAFF
BURNET — A former hospital on Texas 29 West soon might be gone after the landowner and the Burnet City Council reached agreement to demolish the building during a regular meeting May 28.
The building, that is located at 100, 102 and 104 S. Hamilton Creek Drive, was inspected in January and found in violation of several property codes. Burnet Fire Marshal John Erskine told the council the building was unsafe and recommended demolition within one year.
Property owner Dr. Michael Davis told the council he was aware of the building’s state of deterioration and had at times looked into rehabilitating or selling the property.
“We came here (to see) what do we do, to talk,” Davis told the council.
Davis acknowledged the fire marshal and city code enforcement officer’s reports and offered his apologies for the state of the building.
“I really do offer apologies to you as representatives of the community,” he said. “I do apologize for how bad it is.”
During a public hearing on the issue, pictures were presented of the inside of the building. The pictures showed holes in the floors, crumpling ceilings, broken windows, missing doors and black mold.
Erskine said the building still could have asbestos inside. The building is in such a shape that firefighters will not enter the building if it is on fire “unless immediate life rescue is necessary,” Erskine said.
After talking with Burnet City Manager David Vaughn outside the council chambers, the two sides came to an agreement on how to proceed.
The council voted to accept a proposal to give Davis eight months to demolish the structures.
“The reason for that is that we were looking at six months or less, but we had concerns for how long it takes to get the environmental report done,” Vaughn said.
The timeline gives Davis until January to complete the demolition project. If it takes longer, the issue could again come up before the council.
jared@thepicayune.com