Residents of the Cherokee Overlook neighborhood in Canton are complaining about overnight construction noise from the new 300-bed hospital being built right next door.
Workers began construction of the new 300-bed Northside-Cherokee Hospital last year. Those crews got permission from the city to work past the usual nighttime cutoff time. Those crews said they needed the extra hours to finish pouring concrete. The long, continuous pours are essential to maintaining the structural integrity of the concrete.
But neighbors complained that the overnight noise coming from the site is almost unbearable.
"It's loud at 4 a.m.," said Marlene Martin. "It wakes you up. It's beating and banging and louder than that at 4 a.m. You really hear it."
The city listened to the neighbor complaints and approached the construction crews about the noise. Canton city manager Billy Peppers said the crews sent teams into the surrounding neighborhoods to monitor and identify loud noises, and as a result, noise levels have decreased but haven't gone away.
"We are aware of the recent noise concerns," wrote Northside Hospital spokesperson Katherine Watson. "Although noise accompanies any construction project, we're doing our best to resolve these issues while keeping construction on schedule."
Peppers said he believes the noise is diminished, but the city will continue to monitor the noise and neighbor complaints. The hospital is scheduled to open in 2017.
WSBTV
