Brechin Infirmary is quickly being reduced to rubble.
Work is well underway to demolish the 154-year-old building.
It comes after NHS Tayside received the green light from Angus Council planners to clear the site for housing.
More than 40 new homes could be built there.
The infirmary opened as a general hospital in 1869.
Records show tenders for the build came in at around £1,500.
More than double that figure was raised by a community campaign to fund the facility.
The hospital was shut by NHS Tayside in 2015 and declared surplus to requirements in 2018.
But there is still anger locally over the loss of a building which campaigners hoped to turn into a community health hub.
Brechin Healthcare Group was launched in 2017 and developed plans to use the old infirmary.
It wanted to secure a community asset transfer of the building and offered to buy it for £150,000.
Their ambitious scheme included a community garden, training programmes and a host of opportunities around social prescribing.
After Covid delays, the proposal was rejected by NHS Tayside in the summer of 2021.
The health authority said the community group’s valuation of the three-and-a-half acre site was too low.
In early 2022 the health board said they believed the site was worth £400,000 as it stood, or £675,000 as cleared development land.
BHG appealed the CAT refusal to the Scottish Government.
A reporter said he considered the group’s offer a fair one in light of the community benefit which would follow.
But the appeal was dismissed due to concerns around the project’s funding.
Jenner Centre
The healthcare group has run the Jenner centre from Brechin’s former Santander bank premises since 2020 to offer advice and health support.
However, rising utility costs have forced the group to reduce its opening hours to a full day and two mornings per week.
The recent rise in gas and electricity costs have made us consider whether we can keep the Jenner Centre going on a full-time basis. Our landlord has been extremely supportive throughout our 2 1/2 years at 24 St. David’s Street.
— Brechin Healthcare Group (@BrechinGroup) March 4, 2023
Locals are also waiting to see what happens with the former St Drostan’s care home.
The one-time Brechin poorhouse has been empty since Angus Council closed its doors in 2012.
It has been marketed by the authority but has failed to find a buyer.
Conversation