An aging and vacant medical office building on Fisher Road will be torn down later this month, and the land it is on graded and re-seeded as part of long-term planning work at University of Vermont Health – Central Vermont Medical Center.

Demolition of Medical Office Building D, 266 Hospital Loop Road, Berlin, will take three or four weeks and involve heavy equipment and utility work, hospitals leaders said. They urged members of the community traveling along Fisher Road to be aware of the work and plan for some traffic impacts. Demolition of the building and removal of materials from the site is expected to begin in early December.

“Projects like this are a crucial piece of CVMC’s commitment to maintaining and modernizing hospital facilities to support high quality patient care and experiences, and ensure our employees have the support and resources they need to care for our patients and community,” said James Alvarez, vice president of support services at Central Vermont Medical Center.

The 8,000-square-foot building, which was constructed in 1968, has been vacant since late 2022. That’s when members of the hospital’s finance, accounting and human resources teams relocated to leased space off hospital grounds.

Removing aging facilities, revisiting CVMC’s master plan

The demolition of Medical Building D marks the beginning of a new round of facilities planning for Central Vermont Medical Center, which will revisit its master facilities plan in 2026. The planning process ensures the organization has long-range plans focused on maintaining existing buildings and constructing new facilities based on community needs and the range of care the hospital currently provides – as well as removing aging structures that have outlived their useful life.

“The planning process isn’t just about adding new buildings to the hospital’s campus,” said Eileen Hee, director of properties and projects for CVMC. “It’s about ensuring we properly care for buildings throughout their useful life and make smart decisions about how to deal with facilities as they age out and must be removed.”

Prior to the upcoming demolition, Hee said, the hospital performed a comprehensive assessment of the building, including asbestos testing, that did not identify any hazards. As part of the project, a large, underground oil storage tank adjacent to the building will be removed in accordance with federal and state requirements.

The land housing Medical Building D will be re-graded and seeded following the work and will remain available as open space on hospital grounds that can be considered as part of its master planning.