Nursing Home Demolition Begins

RISON - A trackhoe sits idle Monday after taking down a section of the former Cleveland County Nursing Home facing Fifth Street in Rison last week. Huntley Dirt Works of Sulphur Springs began tearing down the facility last week. The complex includes essentially two sections: the original hospital building facing Magnolia Street that was built in 1950 and the "nursing home" addition facing Fifth Street that was built in 1967. While the facility was first used as a hospital when it opened it 1950, the entire facility was eventually used as a nursing home. The facility has remained vacant since April 2010 when Summit Health Resources moved the nursing home to its current facility at the Green House Cottages of Southern Hills in Rison.