Bishop’s old hospital building began to fall to demolition crews Thursday morning. The 1949 building must go to make way for a bigger, more modern building supported by the community.

Some were on hand for a kind of farewell to the old building which holds thousands of memories of days worked and babies born.

Demolition will continue over the next week or so. Because of this tear down and clean up work, the entrance to the emergency room will change to the front door of the hospital on Monday.

Once the debris goes away, work will start on the new hospital. This is the rendering of the new building, and Turner Construction put on a computer tour of the new building plans recently.

Hospital Administrator John Halfen said that in 23 months, the community can enter the front door of the new facility and use the brand new hospital.