TWIN FALLS, Idaho — An abandoned clinic in the heart of Twin Falls has been an eyesore and health hazard for years. A court ordered it torn down, but the property owner has been unresponsive.
In January 2025, the city declared the building a nuisance, and in June a judge ordered Galena — which owns the building — to demolish it, which would cost about $4 million to do safely. Galena has not responded to the demolition requests.
Watch: Twin Falls moves to demolish condemned clinic after owner goes silent
At its October 26 meeting, the Twin Falls City Council agreed to enter negotiations with a contractor who could remove asbestos and lead that would need to be dealt with before any demolition could take place.
City Manager Travis Rothweiler says the city is lining up a contractor in the hope that bulldozers could be ready to roll as soon as legal authority to tear down the building is established.
"The city of Twin Falls doesn't own the property. The City of Twin Falls has never owned the property, and we don't have the legal authority to go in and damage someone's property," Rothweiler said.
"We are trying to make progress, but we also want to do so thoughtfully without creating legal liability to our citizens," Rothweiler said.
Rothweiler said an assessment of asbestos and lead remediation could be completed by spring 2027.
"I'm frustrated but I understand the process that's got to take place," said Angela Hild, who has been principal at St. Edward's Catholic School for over a decade. During that time, the old clinic building right next door has gone through many stages of decline — even a fire in 2021.
"We saw the fire come out between those two buildings. It came out of the gray building," Hild said.
The building has been fenced off and boarded up for more than a decade. The building has even been condemned, but Hild says she knows people enter the building daily.
"The kids aren't necessarily scared of it, but it is well known that it feels like an unsafe place; that people are being unsafe in that building because the kids know it is not a healthy place to be," Hild said.
"Often (the city) will come and board up all the areas. You can see the windows have boards as well as every door has been boarded up, and I would say within a week we see those boards being removed," Hild said.
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