Wrecking Corporation of America, which has provided demolition services to major industrial, commercial, and government clients in the Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland metropolitan areas for more than 30 years, has begun demolition work on the former Coppin State University Lutheran Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

"We have been razing institutional sites for 30 years, including a number of hospital complexes," said Terry Anderson, Wrecking Corp executive vice president. "We recently took down the old Columbia Hospital for Women, a building about the same age as the oldest Lutheran Hospital building, and we are very familiar with the complexities of extremely old facilities. We've already begun abatement of asbestos and lead in the buildings."

Razing the hospital, which includes seven buildings consisting of approximately 200,000 square feet, is scheduled for completion in February 2008. Abatement has been subcontracted to Hudak's Construction Services. Wrecking Corp also will perform on-site recycling and regarding with crushed concrete.

The Lutheran Hospital site has been vacant for more than 15 years and was purchased by Coppin State University in 2003 for purposes of expansion.