Efforts to demolish a north Peoria, Ariz., eyesore ground to a halt after the company that once planned to build the city's first hospital filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 3, AZCentral.com reported yesterday. Peoria was weeks away from demolishing the partially built hospital when Peoria Regional Medical Center LLC filed for chapter 11 protection. The project had sat inactive for five years, the two-story rusted steel skeleton towering above Lake Pleasant Parkway and surrounding homes in the rapidly growing area. The $30 million hospital had broken ground in 2011, but work stopped a year later due to lack of financial backing. The city attorney advised staff to hold off on demolition until the court makes a decision on the bankruptcy claim. There is no timeline for when that will occur.In early 2016, the Peoria Police Department's code enforcement division ordered the property owners to fix code violations such as overgrown weeds and unsecured fencing. The owners fixed the violations and met with Peoria's Economic Development Department to say they were still looking for funding to finish the project, said Jay Davies, deputy director of the Peoria Police Department. But they never followed up with a timeline, he said.
