The contractor selected for the demolition of the old Grace Hospital nursing residence is on-site.

Ottawa-based Inflector Environmental Services was awarded a $2.5 million contract to demolish the downtown eyesore.

The derelict multi-story building has been sitting vacant for years, attracting vandals, urban explorers, pigeons and vermin.

Demolition work will include hazardous material abatement and disposal, pest control, building demolition, site security, and removal of building service lines.

Workers are now on-site and have set up a compound at the scene. It’s believed the site, once demolition, clean-up and remediation is complete, could see the construction of a new hospital to replace nearby St. Clare’s.