MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Proposals now are being solicited for the Maquoketa hospital campus that will be vacated after construction of the new facility is completed.

Jackson County Regional Health Center officials, in partnership with the city and Jackson County Economic Alliance, have put out a request for “qualified developers who possess the ability, desire and financial resources to develop an approximately 12-acre site” at 700 W. Grove St. that includes the current hospital.

Officials recently predicted that construction on the new $37 million hospital should be complete by late December and that it would open on Feb. 11. The facility sits on a 25-acre parcel along 17th Street on the south side of Maquoketa.

That means the current hospital and site will no longer be used for that purpose in the not-too-distant future, prompting local officials to solicit pitches on the future of the property.

“To the maximum extent possible, responses to the request for proposals should mix market reality, community desires and economic feasibility,” states an announcement posted online by Jackson County Economic Alliance.

Proposals must be submitted by Feb. 11.