by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Downtown skyline is in the process of changing again due to the continuing evolution of the Baptist Health System campus on the Southbank.
The project includes the demolition of the multi-story East Wing of the original hospital as well as the single-story Southeast Annex Building and the single-story MRI addition. The structures will be replaced with a 12-story tower that will serve adult patients as well as pediatric patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
“We’re replacing a building that has exceeded its useful life,” said Burn Sears, with the Atlanta architectural firm of Stanley Beaman & Sears.
Since the 1950s, the campus has grown a building at a time depending on number of patients treated and services provided. The architecture of each building reflects its time period including everything from what was the norm a half-century ago to traditional office tower designs to ultra-modern curved metal and glass along the St. John River, said Sears.
“The campus is typical of any hospital complex that has sprung up over time,” said Sears. “Our task is to knit our project into the existing architecture and ensure there are no connectivity issues with the rest of the campus.”
One issue faced by the designers is the location of underground utilities on the campus, in particular a tunnel that connects the energy center to other buildings on the site.
In addition to the underground utility considerations, the patient care areas are designed to be convertible to meet the requirements of either adult or pediatric care. The project will also allow the expansion of the surgical and intensive care facilities at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
“We don’t know what health care will be like in five or ten years. This is one of the more challenging projects our firm has ever taken on,” said Sears.
The structure will be clad in precast concrete, aluminum and glass and the final design will likely include an elevated garden area similar to the third-floor area at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
“The design reflects the well-known healing effects of natural light. There will be lots of glass on the east, south and west faces,” said Sears.
Interior demolition has already begun and major elements will be removed without explosives, said Paul Singletary, director of plant facilities and construction at Baptist Heath Systems.
“We’ll take it down a piece at a time,” he said.
According to the application for conceptual approval submitted to the Downtown Development Review Board (DDRB) of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, the project can be completed by October 2010 if it begins in four months. The board voted Thursday to grant conceptual approval for the project.
Also approved by DDRB was another extension to a project that received final approval in April, 2006. A one-year extension of final approval was requested by the developer and granted in April, 2007 and another was requested and granted at Thursday’s meeting.
The project is a five-story, 26,840 square-foot mixed-use development at 214 W. Ashley St. in the Church District. The developer plans to convert the building into office and retail space and offer it as business condominiums to attorneys and legal service providers who wish to be located near the new County Courthouse.
Project architect Michael Dunlap said no changes would be made to the plans approved by DDRB two years ago and he’s confident the project can be completed since, “The courthouse is moving forward and we hope the market will rebound.”