Community invited to help honor hospital’s legacy

   FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Officials with the town of Fort Fairfield and TAMC are putting out a call to townspeople and others interested in helping ensure the legacy of the former Community General Hospital is carried forward for future generations.
A joint work group comprised of the Fort Fairfield Quality of Place Council and members of TAMC’s Fort Fairfield Area Health Advisory Committee are leading the effort to pay tribute to the building, individuals who worked at the facility, and patients who were treated at the hospital over several decades. The group will meet for the first time Wednesday, June 25 at 4 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at the Fort Fairfield Community Center.
“We want to invite any resident of Fort Fairfield or other individuals with a connection to the hospital over the several decades it served the community to join us on June 25,” said Betty Kent-Conant, who is co-chairing the working group along with fellow Fort Fairfield Area Health Advisory Committee member Rayle Reed Ainsworth. “We are so pleased that the Quality of Place Council is including this effort in their work plan. With the input of their membership, those on TAMC’s Health Advisory group, and others who join us, we will certainly develop a fitting tribute to Community General Hospital, which was such an important part of our town.”
Among the projects for consideration by the group is a healing garden that would sit where the current footprint of the 1950 original section is and would incorporate the building cornerstone. Another effort will involve producing a permanent exhibit of photographs of CGH through the years that will hang in the hallways of TAMC’s Fort Fairfield Health Center.
According to Philip Christensen, president of the Fort Fairfield Quality of Place Council, efforts to redevelop the site of the former hospital and draw attention to its significance to the community over the years fit well with the mission of the group.
“Our Council was formed to oversee the implementation of the Fort Fairfield Economic Development Investment Strategy. One of our goals is to promote awareness and understanding of our unique cultural and historical heritage. We seek partnerships to promote our goals such as this to help our citizens visit the past. And one of our guiding principles it to enhance health care services,” said Christensen.
As the work of the new group gets underway, so does the demolition on two sections of the hospital building. According to Tim Doak, TAMC facility engineer, Soderberg Construction will begin to take down the 1950 and 1971 sections before the end of the month. It is expected to take between three weeks and a month to complete the demolition and backfill work.
Following a concerted effort to identify a good reuse option for sections of the former hospital, officials with the town and medical center recommended in April to move forward with taking down two sections of the building and retaining the space currently occupied by the Fort Fairfield Health Center.
Individuals who are unable to participate in the June 25 meeting but would like to take part in the effort should contact TAMC Fort Fairfield Health Center Manager Kerry Spooner at 768-4750 or kspooner@emhs.org to share their name and contact information.