A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire fundraising foundation has sold a 600,000-square-foot former hospital to a local developer with a possibility of it being converted into a medical research park. A Thursday statement from UW-Eau Claire Foundation Executive Director Kurt Krizan said the former Sacred Heart Hospital near the university’s upper campus has been sold to Commonweal Development Corp., based in the city. Commonweal President Stuart Schaefer said the company appreciates the trust the UW-Eau Claire foundation has placed in the firm to develop the former Sacred Heart Hospital site. Commonweal Development and the university foundation were among the partners that helped bring the six-year project to fruition when it opened its doors in 2018. The Sacred Heart Hospital, built in 1964, was a prominent fixture in Eau Claire but has been vacant since Hospital Sisters Health System, or HSHS, closed it as part of a “complete exit from the Western Wisconsin region.”In April, the UW-Eau Claire foundation bought the former hospital for an undisclosed amount.