PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — A Pawtucket judge this month gave the city permission to board up and secure all openings at the long-defunct Memorial Hospital, citing "concern for public health and safety."

The Pawtucket Municipal Court order, signed Oct. 7, comes as city leaders have become increasingly critical of the lack of stewardship at the rapidly deteriorating hospital, which has been shuttered for years.

In recent years, the campus has been targeted by trespassers and vandals, resulting in broken windows and doors. Lockwood Development Partners, the property's current owner, hasn't made progress on a plan to transform it into housing and a wellness center for veterans.

"It came to a point where it became a public safety issue," Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told Target 12. "So the city went to the court system and the court gave us the order."

Care New England took over Memorial Hospital in 2013 and decided to close it in 2017 after years of operating losses. Lockwood purchased the property for $250,000 in 2021, but has allowed the facility to deteriorate.

Lockwood owner Charles Everhardt didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.

A second entity called Memorial Real Estate Group later stepped forward with an alternative plan to turn the building into affordable housing, but the project never materialized. Memorial Real Estate Group's owner -- Michael Mota -- has been the subject of several investigative reports by The Boston Globe.

Grebien said the city doesn't have many options to rectify the situation because the property is privately owned. The mayor said the city also doesn't have enough cash to try and take it by eminent domain, which the city did with the former Apex department store building.

But Grebien said he felt like officials had to step in and do something about the vandalism and trespassing because it's frustrating his constituents and becoming a nuisance to the neighborhood. The city has already boarded up parts of the building and put up fencing around the outside to keep people out.

"We're trying to pick up those pieces and keep it safe," he said. "This is an eyesore and we have to clean it up."

Grebien estimated the clean-up costs would exceed $20,000, but he said the money would be reimbursed whenever the property is sold again because the city put a lien on it. The mayor said he's still hopeful the structure will be rehabilitated at some point in the future, but he acknowledged that this "is not where we want to be."

Grebien, a Democrat, is up for reelection next week and the hospital has become a topic of debate on the campaign trial. Nathan Luciano, an independent who is challenging the mayor, criticized the lack of progress, saying city residents are forced to wait and allow the property to "just sit and waste away."

“It’s imperative that we, the people of Pawtucket, understand what has transpired,” Luciano said in a statement last week. “We demand transparency and accountability regarding this significant asset, especially as we continue to bear the burden of high property taxes.”