Construction workers already have begun removing asbestos from a four-story building at 320 W. Eight Ave. that will be demolished. The new four-story facility at what was formerly known as Denver General Hospital will include a 26-bed correctional-care area in the basement, with outpatient rehabilitation services and an orthopedic clinic on the first floor. The second floor calls for a 24-bed medical intensive care unit and ambulatory procedure center and 30-bed medical and surgical patient care units on the third and fourth floors. The San Francisco-based architectural firm of Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz and the Denver firm of Lantz-Boggio Architects are designing the new facility.

Taxpayers had approved a $66-million bond issue for the hospital, of which almost $45 million will be used for the construction. The hospital plans another bond issue in the coming year to meet its growing needs. The hospital had been started in 1860 to serve an estimated 100,000 gold prospectors who flocked to Denver.