Cedartown City Commissioners voted Monday to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that will effectively transfer control of the old Polk Medical Center building to city oversight and control upon the opening of the new facility in November.
Harold Wyatt, chair of the Cedartown-Polk County Hospital Authority said the decision will bring about important economic development to downtown Cedartown.
“It is a significant move for downtown Cedartown and the community for a whole,” said Wyatt. “To have this building re-purposed, reused, and occupied with healthcare agencies and numerous other tenants that will be bringing traffic into town and could be a huge economic boost for downtown Cedartown.”
Highland Rivers and Primary Healthcare will be the anchor tenants for the One Door Polk network, which will include other tenants in the future such as business incubators and educational opportunities.
“We take over the building when Floyd vacates in November,” said city commission chair Dale Tuck. “We go into renovation then and hopefully that will be open to local contractors.”
City commissioners Jordan Hubbard and Gary Martin cast the lone “no” votes, citing that they support One Door Polk but not the city taking over the building. Both commissioners did express after the vote that they are on board with the commission’s decision.
Commissioners also approved an intergovernmental agreement with Polk County to lease the basement of the hospital building for a new E-911 call center and a new joint Emergency Operation Center. The agreement will be a 50 year lease.