MASON CITY – The Mercy energy center construction project continues to pick up steam this week as the last of the homes set for demolition along 1st Street SW will soon be gone.
The demolition of homes on 1st Street SW and other preparations for the expansion project to accommodate a new energy center and loading dock area began July 8th, 2013. The long row of Mercy-owned rental homes was demolished one by one and there looks to be just one home left to go as of Tuesday morning.
Monday evening and early Tuesday, a tree-removal company began in earnest cutting down large, very old trees along 1st Street SW.
A Mercy official at the scene Tuesday, Bruce Lange, claimed that Mercy will replace each tree they take down with three new ones.
Pedestrians and onlookers were on the scene Monday evening taking pictures; some were emotional. Tuesday morning, pedestrians continued to walk down the former 1st Street SW, which the Mason City Council handed to Mercy along with a zoning change so that the project could commence. Some Forest Park residents have been vocal in their opposition to the project, while other citizens have expressed support.
One bystander said “They (Mercy) just wants to get the carnage over with as quickly as possible. That’s why they are moving so fast. This is ugly. Oh, so ugly.”
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16 thoughts on “Trees fall in Forest Park as Mercy demolition of neighborhood continues (PHOTOS & VIDEO)”
NIT, If you would like to take photographs just go to any of the adjacent properties. They have front row seats. You could even get a view from second story windows.
Has anyone on this thread ever seen 60 Minutes? Sometimes the press takes risks to cover the news. Sadly this is something that is foreign to our town because The Globe cannot afford to assign investigative stories to journalists. Also, Mercy hospital is one of their best advertisers and you can’t bite the hand that feeds you. Mercy also sponsors KIMT newscasts quite a bit.
While I personally do not always agree with the angles North Iowa Today takes in covering some issues or people, I certainly appreciate that they are willing to cover the news where others answer to the people buying the advertising. As outlandish as some of the NIT headlines can be, there’s also a fair measure of risk-taking going on for the benefit of showing another side to every story.
As J. Robert Oppenheimer once was quoted: “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
You Could update that to: ‘Mercy’
“Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of neighborhoods, homes & Trees.”
Matt did you count the trees while you were there? Must have been at least 4 dozen that cut down. That means they have to plants almost 200 trees to make up for the murder of the 50 they killed.
Isnt mercy doing this construction for a new generator? or something like that? this is very ugly and the video disgusted me beyond belief, it hurts me so bad to see this happening especially since almost everyday i would drive down this road and drive past the beautiful houses and trees if it is a new generator mercy is putting in it is much needed! there were a few days last year in the midst of summer and the hottest days of summer the air conditioners quit working in the kitchen and had no hot water. something a hospital condition really needs to keep running!i really dont know how we kept it running through all of it! also the elavators would stop working all the time too and we had to climb up to 6stories about 200 trays of food up to the patients! there are big fixes mercy needs to make and i hope thats what they are doing.
@Anonymous-where in the article does it say any thing about being defensive or trespassing? And he IS the press. As much as the GLOBE or any other news source in town. What is with you always trying to discredit NIT. If you don’t like the site don’t come on it. We are tired of hearing your bitching all the time. Use your real name or at least a on line name why don’t you?
On Facebook Mr. reporter said they got “aggressive” with him. And if you watch the video he was clearly trespassing. So what’s your problem Mr. fake name
Dear anonymous “DAN” : I did write that a Mercy employee got aggressive with me. The employee reached out with his hand and made contact with me and my camera. I told him not to touch me. We later had a decent exchange and shook hands. No hard feelings either way.
Not anonymous, these are my initials.
It is about time you use a real name instead of anonymous. I have always use my initials and nothing else. I stand behind and in front of what I say. I don’t use two name like cowards do.
HAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, right!
Matt why grt so defensive? You were trespassing and you knew it. You knew that Mercy owns the property including the street. If you were a credible site you would have went to mercy and told them that you would like to do a story and maybe the would have accommodated you. Instead you sneak onto the property with your camera and claim to be the press. That don’t give you authorization to trespass. Your own video shows you were trespassing.
They can press charges on me I guess if they want. Something tells me you would like to see that. Just like they could against all the other folks walking through there. By the way I didn’t “sneak” onto the property, I walked right down the middle of the street in broad daylight.
Did you walk by the sign in the picture that says “private property”? If so you did sneak in. Plus I see the sidewalk is closed.
This guy hates trees. What a shame they had to die so Mercy can get richer.
Matt…this was not so much a trespassing issue or a we don’t want nit on site issue. This is simply a insurance liability issue. The sign was posted private property, you should not have been there without authorization. The reason you should not have been there is because you were approx. 50 yards from heavy duty machinery taking trees down. If something were to happen Mercy is liable and you are allof a sudden in a court case trying to prove why you were on private property with construction going on and got hurt. Its as simple as that. mercy is just trying to cover their bases from a insurance liability issue.
By the way I have known Bruce Lang for many years and he is a good person who was just doing his job. And I see at the end he was very accomidating in letting you finish your video.
Hi. Yes I have no issues with Mr. Lange; we shook hands and left on good terms, I felt. I do understand the liability issue as well. However, I must say, that other people were walking through and were not approached. Also, Mr. Lange went for my camera as soon as I asked about the trees being cut down. I tend to think that Mercy did not want a permanent record of the destruction of the neighborhood and the trees, but that is just my opinion. At any rate, they are mostly done tearing down now and the infrastructure will go in next.