In two respects, Catholic Health’s new hospital in Lockport will mark the end of an era.
It will lead to the shutdown of bankrupt Eastern Niagara Hospital, which has operated since 1908.
And it will alter the operation of a popular Lockport business.
The site of the new $37 million hospital, announced Thursday, is a farm owned since 1885 by the Hall family, operators of Hall Apple Farm, a well-known store for apple and other fruit pies and bakery items.
The store, which opened in 1965, will remain in business, but it will no longer be able to make its treats with all home-grown fruit, owner Robert W. Hall said.
That’s because most of the orchard will be cut down to make way for the 37,122-square-foot hospital. It will be built 150 to 200 yards west and slightly north of the Lockport Home Depot store, Town of Lockport Supervisor Mark C. Crocker said.
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It will replace Eastern Niagara Hospital, which will close when the new Catholic Health hospital is ready. Catholic Health CEO Mark A. Sullivan said the target date is Jan. 1, 2023.
Catholic Health signed a management agreement with Eastern Niagara in October 2020, 11 months after the Lockport hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Construction is to start this fall on Lockport Memorial Campus of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, as the new facility will be known. It is expected to offer 19 to 22 acute-care beds, an emergency department, lab and radiology services, and stroke and cardiac care, Sullivan said.
"We have to evaluate that," Sullivan said. "This decision is for decades. The parcel of land we found is really wonderful. ... It enables us to expand if necessary and it also is a place where people of the community can access it readily."
Although the initial road access to the hospital will be off Shimer Drive, Sullivan said Catholic Health’s eventual preference would be to also connect the hospital site with Route 93, the Lockport Bypass, improving access to the hospital for both emergency vehicles and the public. The 104 acres Catholic Health has under contract extends to the Bypass, which is west of the Hall property.
Crocker said that the site plan he saw included connections from the hospital to the Bypass and to Ruhlman Road, as well as to Shimer Drive. He said if Shimer Drive is extended, that would be a town project, but Catholic Health would have to pay for any other connections.
"We have committed to the Catholic Health System to make this project work," Crocker said.
“Our community and surrounding communities have relied on the hospital for decades for both services and employment,” Lockport Mayor Michelle M. Roman said.
“Although I am disappointed in the gradual loss of critical services like the maternity ward, ICU, surgical and others, I look forward to partnering with Catholic Health and the town to maintain some level of critical care services, like an emergency room, into the future. We appreciate that they will maintain a presence within two miles of the current location for those with limited transportation," Roman added.
Hall wouldn’t say how much Catholic Health is paying for his land. The zillow.com real estate website said the asking price for the farm, including the store, was $795,000. The site was listed as pending sale on Dec. 30.
Sullivan said he considered six or seven sites on the west side of Route 78 between Millersport Highway and the Lockport city line at Ruhlman Road. The others were too narrow, too close to neighbors or too far from the City of Lockport, so he chose to buy the Hall farm.
"It's a little congested, but not as congested as it would have been if we picked a site further down Transit Road," Sullivan said. "We were able to respect the legacy, respect what (Hall) wanted to do there."
"I welcome them. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited about it," Hall said. “We're still going to live here and we're still going to be running the store and the farm market and the cider mill."
And he will keep 8 to 10 acres of apple trees.
