A one-time pillar of health care in the Palmerton community is about to be reduced to rubble.

Demolition of the former Palmerton Hospital got underway on Monday, a bittersweet ending for what had been a generational icon.

John Nespoli, president of St. Luke’s Carbon and Lehighton campuses, said last month demolition was slated for late February/early March.

Previously, demolition had been expected to begin this past November, however, Nespoli said cleaning out the building and doing internal demo prep took longer than anticipated.

A rather large crowd gathered for a Remembrance Ceremony held Oct. 27 at the former St. Luke’s Palmerton Hospital one last time.

Speakers included former Palmerton Hospital President/CEO Peter Kern, Dr. Edward Miller, and Nicole Baker, RN.

St. Luke’s closed the Lafayette Avenue campus after it acquired Blue Mountain Health System and began its construction of the new St. Luke’s Carbon Campus in Franklin Township.

Demolition had originally been slated for 2020, but the pandemic and other delays pushed back the timeline.

St. Luke’s officials originally told Palmerton Chamber members they planned to demolish the existing building to make room for a senior housing community or a health care facility of some sort.

In January 2020, Kern said the building, which was constructed in 1967, “served its purpose well” and was in favor of the demolition.

St. Luke’s officials said renovations for the building, if it was upgraded, would have come in around $30 million or more.

In recent years, St. Luke’s has invested more than $200 million in Carbon County health care, replacing the outdated Palmerton facility with the new Carbon County Campus as well as various other new facilities and expanded offerings in Palmerton.

Virtually every major specialty is available at the St. Luke’s Health Center on Delaware Avenue. Services include an integrated model of obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics.