Friday, November 12, 1999
Children's Hospital expansion passes halfway point
BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As construction cranes tower above Burnet and Erkenbrecher avenues, an extensive expansion at Children's Hospital Medical Center has passed the halfway point.
Four construction projects totaling more than $155 million are transforming the face of Children's Hospital, one of the nation's three busiest pediatric treatment and research institutions.
When the pounding stops, the hospital will have a new clinical building, research wing, education and conference center, and parking garage. Three of the projects are expected to be complete by late next year while the largest effort — the clinical building — will push into mid-2002.
Next week at the same intersection, a $10 million construction project officially begins to build a bigger Ronald McDonald House to house the families of young patients traveling to Cincinnati for care.
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TOP SPOTS
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How Children's Hospital ranks nationally:
• First in pediatric surgeries, emergency and outpatient visits.
• Third in inpatient admissions.
• Third in research funding from the National Institutes of Health.
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“We are trying to become the national leader in improving child health. That's our vision,” said hospital spokesman Jim Feuer. “Our mission is to do that in three ways, through education, patient care and research. All three of those goals are reflected in all this construction.”
The Children's Hospital project adds up to the biggest Tristate medical construction job in years. It's about half the overall cost of the $288 million Fort Washington Way project and more than one-third the cost of the $404 million Bengals stadium.
When the big parts were announced in early 1998, the hospital work was projected to cost $128 million. However, in December 1998, the hospital board added $27 million to include a sixth floor for the conference center and several other changes.
As a result, the estimated completion dates also were pushed back.
• Workers are attaching the brick exterior to the recently named Albert B. Sabin Education and Convention Center, a six-story building along the front of the hospital complex facing Burnet Avenue. Estimated completion date: Aug. 31, 2000. Original estimate: October 1999.
• A concrete and steel framework for the larger, eight-story clinical building rises at the intersection of Burnet and Erkenbrecher. The building stands on top of a multimillion-dollar parkinggarage extension and cooling facility. Estimated completion date: August 2002. Original estimate: December 2001.
• With most exterior work complete, work has moved to the inside of a nine-story research wing at the back of the hospital complex. This project is nearly invisible from Burnet and Erkenbrecher, but is expected to house a brain-tumor center, a genetic-therapy center and other projects. Estimated completion date: August 2000. Original completion date: July 2000.
• Excavation work begins Monday for an 800-space parking garage to be located along Burnet Avenue in front of the education and conference center. Estimated completion date: November 2000. Original date: July 2000.
Meanwhile, a groundbreaking ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Monday for the 48-room Ronald McDonald House, which will replace a20-room facility about a block away.
Fund-raisers say they have collected about $6.5 million of their $10 million goal from more than 150 gifts from corporations, individuals, foundations and other sources.
The project was proposed in early 1998, but work was delayed about a year after objections from the Avondale Community Council that the project clashed with other Burnet Avenue development plans. Those objections were dropped.
Several abandoned houses at the intersection have been demolished to prepare the site. The new Ronald McDonald House is expected to be complete in late 2000.
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