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NAMPA, Idaho — Another order was issued Tuesday to the owner of the old Mercy Hospital demanding an explanation as to why after more than seven months, half of the hazardous building still stands.

Mercy Medical Hospital, at 1615 Eighth St. S. in Nampa, was built in the 1910s and was destroyed in an accidental fire in January. The building had been vacant for more than 10 years. After the fire, the city declared it unfit for human occupancy.

The city of Nampa’s order on Tuesday called the structure an “imminent hazard and public nuisance.” The order states that the remaining portion of the building is “in a severe state of dilapidation due to severe fire damage and lack of weather resistive elements. The structure has been further compromised by the demolition of the west wing annex.”

Because the property owner, Doug Tamura, has only demolished the west wing of the building, the city has declared it even more dangerous than it was immediately after the fire.

“The structure has become a threat to public welfare, an attractive nuisance, and a harbor for vagrants due to several open access points to the building,” the notice and order states.

A demolition permit was issued for the building on March 30, but as of Wednesday the old hospital had only been partially torn down. The demolition permit expires in 180 days of the date it was issued, and it did not specify that only half of the structure could be torn down.

The order issued Tuesday states that within 10 days, Tamura must provide a letter requesting an extension of the demolition permit and provide a description of the desired length of time the owner wishes to maintain the building in its present state. It also demanded a schedule for the building to be boarded up and a narrative describing the methods to be used in securing the building from access.

Within 30 days of the order, Tamura was ordered to securely board up all exterior windows, doors and wall openings and remove any external metal stairs to prevent access to the building.

According to the order, Tamura must engage a licensed structural engineer to develop a structural assessment report within 30 days. The report must provide an assessment of the structural stability of exterior walls and remains in building structure and recommendations for maintaining the structural integrity of the building while it isn’t torn down.

It remains unclear how Tamura had planned to use the remaining portion of the structure. Tamura has declined comment in the past, and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

While there is a fence around the property, Nampa Fire Marshal Phil Roberts said it is easy to breach that barrier.

Roberts said the city thought the scraping of the property was going to continue after demolition began.

“(The owner) started and we don’t know for what reason or for what purpose he stopped,” Roberts said.

Issuing the order was an effort to get the owner to continue to clean up the site so it is not an eyesore and not a hazard, Roberts said.

If the owner fails to submit the extension letter and structural report within the designated outlines, the order states that the city shall take legal action in accordance to the Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings.

HISTORY OF THE NON-COMPLIANCE

In years prior to the fire when the building was vacant, the city issued notices regarding the need for the building to be boarded up to prevent harboring of vagrants and rodents. There had been complaints of graffiti and vagrants entering in the abandoned building.

Code enforcement reports stated that one city code enforcement supervisor wrote in a 2010 report that the city spoke with Tamura, and Tamura said “he is working with the PD on a sting operation to try and catch the people who keep breaking into the building.”

But the police later told the city they were not working on any kind of sting operation with the owner.

The Nampa Development Corporation created an urban renewal district around the property in 2012 and discussed multiple projects, but none of them moved forward before the fire.

The old Mercy Medical Hospital, formerly run by the Sisters of Mercy nuns, has been on the Register of Historic Places since 2014.

Saint Alphonsus officials previously said they hoped to keep a cross from the old Mercy Medical Hospital so it could be used at another Saint Alphonsus facility, but that decision hadn’t been finalized.

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