The former Welborn Baptist Hospital building in downtown Evansville is headed to the auction block.
St. Mary's owns the building, but officials said they haven't used it for anything in three years.
And, now the hospital system wants out.
The biggest part of the property is this hospital building and the land it's on.
But, St. Mary's is also including two other disconnected parking lots.
Kurtz Auction and Realty is running the bid process.
Interested parties can make bids through October 22.
And, there will be a final decision on October 28.
Tim Flesch, St. Mary's CEO, said he doesn't know if anyone's interested yet nor how much money people would be willing to pay for the site.
And, Jason Blue, with Kurtz, said there's no minimum bid.
So, if high bid is one dollar, then that's how much the winner will pay for the property.
Commercial developers across the region are now asking themselves if they can make a profit by owning the old Welborn Baptist Hospital.
The medical system is eager to get it off the books.
St. Mary's spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on it each year.
And, the building hasn't even been used since 2006.
"We do pay real estate taxes on it. I don't know those numbers," Flesch said. "We still have it insured. We maintain the grass and the facility and the building. And, we have heat, light, power still on at the levels necessary to maintain the building."
But, how much the property costs for St. Mary's to own right now and how much its worth to a commercial developer could be two very different numbers.
"There's some value there," said Jason Blue, with Kurtz Auction and Realty. "But, it's tough to determine what that value is."
The bids will determine exactly what that value is, especially because there's no minimum bid.
Commercial developers FOX 7 spoke with had mixed feelings about the property.
Some said it was a good building with a lot of potential.
Others said there are so many questions about the property they'd be hesitant about bidding.
One of the potential issues in selling this property is that the Welborn building actually shares some of its utilities with the one next door. And, that one isn't on the auction block nor owned by St. Mary's. Just think about that. What if you and your next door neighbor had the same furnace to heat your homes?
Another possible issue, it was built as a hospital.
Moving forward, the new owner can't use it that way.
"We don't believe we need another acute care facility in town, another acute care hospital. So, a restriction is that it can't be turned into that," said Flesch.
But, that doesn't exclude the possibility of putting in a nursing home or assisted living facility - the path that might be easiest for a developer to handle.
Speaking of nursing home facilities, there's one that's been in the news a lot recently, Riverwalk Communities, which currently uses the McCurdy Building.
The plan is to move the residents to the old Knights of Columbus building.
Ben Kunkel, whose company is working that space, said going into this space instead is not a realistic option.

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