The halls of Good Samaritan Hospital have been quiet for several years, but that could soon change.

According to Selma Mayor George Evans, several organizations are interested in bringing the building back to life and putting it into use for people in Selma, Dallas County and the Black Belt.

“It is a historical structure that should be a part of our continued history, and whatever we can do to revitalize that, I think we should do our best to do that,” Evans said at Thursday night’s Selma City Council work session.

The hospital is known for treating marchers that were brutally beaten in 1965 by then Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clarke, his deputies and Alabama State Troopers.

Evans told council members about a meeting he had earlier in the week with different organizations and representatives from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).

“There is a team I have been talking with for quite some time about the possibility of what they would like to do to bring that building back to life,” Evans said. “ADECA was here with their team and talked about it and gave some ideas.”

Evans said the state owns the building, but they are willing to give it to the city if a plan is put together for its use.

“Right now it is just people talking. I’ll be asking the council members to be involved, and then we’ll start trying to see if that is something the city wants because at the end of the day they are willing to give it to the city,” Evans said. “However, there has to be a plan in place if the city did take it what it will be used for the citizens of Selma and surrounding counties.”

Evans said the groups that are interested include doctors and other programs that could benefit people in this area.

“There is a medical team of doctors, there is a senior citizen program that would like to invest and some other people that would like to be a part of something to revitalize that institution,” Evans said.

Before anything can be done though, the building needs to be renovated.

“It is in the worst condition that it has ever been in because of everything being taken out of there, and there is no copper or metal in the building at all. They’ve stripped it completely. It is almost like starting all over again,” Evans said.

“It is going to take close to $300,000 or $400,000 to repair that hospital.”

While the building has work that is much needed, Councilwoman Bennie Ruth Crenshaw said there was already a plan in place years ago to turn the hospital into a rural health center.

“There should be a plan somewhere that was put in place for Good Sam some time back. UAB was involved thoroughly in trying to deal with Good Sam, but Good Sam didn’t have the full support of the council nor city government when the project started,” Crenshaw said Thursday night.

“I hope now that we can set up to go back to that plan for the rural health center that was on the table at that time, which really could have come to fruition.”

Evans said ADECA seems to be willing to help fund the project as long as a plan is put in place. Evans also said nothing is concrete, and that the idea is only being discussed at this time.