The property management office of Norwood Development Group frequently receives calls about two large commercial sites that have been vacant for years in the Hillside neighborhood east of downtown Colorado Springs.

One — the old St. Francis Hospital — draws more interest than the other, the former Gazette campus.

Recommended Stories

With roots dating to 1887 and origins in Catholic nuns caring for injured railroad workers and then tuberculosis patients, St. Francis occupies nearly an entire square block off East Pikes Peak Avenue between Institute and Prospect streets.

But after 123 years of operation, the property containing what’s left of Colorado Springs’ first major hospital has sat empty since 2010.

The aging, partially historic behemoth was no longer needed for duty after its Catholic health network owner built a new facility on the city’s northeast side in 2008, now named CommonSpirit St. Francis Hospital.

“I get calls from ‘Please don’t tear anything down.…