WINDSOR, Ont. -- After a long delay and missed deadlines, the transformation of the derelict former Grace Hospital site into a long-term care home will finally begin at the end of the month, the government-selected contractor has promised amid calls that he be pulled from the project.

Lou Vozza, of L.V. Concorde Contracting Inc., said he got Ministry of Health approval Monday to begin working on the building at University Avenue West and Crawford Avenue, a long-standing eyesore that has area residents and some local politicians fuming.

Ontario's Ministry of Health confirmed Wednesday the project has been given the green light, with a new completion deadline of September 2011. The facility was supposed to be ready by March 2011.

Vozza said he will have workers onsite in about three weeks to begin tearing down parts of the building, but he still needs to get demolition and building permits from the city.

His company was awarded a contract to build a 160-bed long-term care facility in September 2007, as part of Ontario's $32.1-million pledge to create 448 long-term care beds in the Windsor area. When Extendicare Canada Inc. backed out of building a 128-bed nursing home in LaSalle, Vozza agreed to add another 96 beds to his project and draw up new blueprints.