Bricks from the recently demolished Shawano Medical Center are being made available to the public as keepsakes.
“Residents of Shawano have been asking for bricks as mementos of the old Shawano Medical Center,” said John Gijsen, director of facilities management-system locations for ThedaCare. “It was a place that meant a lot to the people of this community, so we’ve come up with a plan to give them away.”
The bricks will be available to Shawano residents until Wednesday at the south parking lot near the old hospital site just off Fifth Street. The bricks will be placed in piles, and residents can come choose their own.
People are asked to exercise caution when sorting through the bricks and to wear appropriate closed-toe footwear and gloves.
Bricks will not necessarily be cleaned of mortar, but mortar can be easily removed at home with a hammer.
People are asked to limit themselves to a single brick.
The new ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano opened in September 2015 at 100 County Road B, at which time the 10-acre Shawano Medical Center riverside campus was closed. The Shawano Common Council approved the ThedaCare plan in March to demolish the old structure at ThedaCare’s expense after multiple redevelopment efforts for the existing building fell through. Statewide Razing of Combined Locks is doing the demolition.
ThedaCare serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 7,000 health care professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose, as well as 34 clinics in 14 counties.
ThedaCare is a nonprofit health care organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service.
For information about the brick giveaway, call Gijsen at 920-450-4701.