by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The largest capital project in Duval County in recent memory took another step at the Thursday meeting of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Downtown Development Review Board.
As he presented the design, architect Vernon Sears said one of the challenges was to make the new $200 million, 11-story Wolfson Children’s Hospital Adult Tower fit in with the rest of the medical complex on the Downtown Southbank near the Fuller Warren Bridge.
“The campus has grown for 50 years,” he said, creating a combination of various styles of institutional architecture as design trends and construction methods evolved over the decades. The new design is intended to bring unity to the existing site.
Sears also said Baptist Medical Center will lose eight beds as part of the project, but will gain two operating rooms for pediatric and adult services. The additional facilities will allow Baptist to expand its adult neurological and pediatric cardiovascular surgery practices.
One of the most distinctive features of the tower will be a roof garden on the third floor. It will not be open to the public, but patients will be able to see the garden from their room windows and that has been proven to aid the healing process, Sears said.
While the infrastructure for the garden is on the blueprints, it may be awhile before the greenscape is installed, said Paul Singletary, Baptist Medical Center director of plant facilities and construction.
“The roof garden is a donor opportunity,” he said.
Board member and landscape architect Chris Flagg said Jacksonville “has a long way to go to become a ‘green’ city,” but, “this is a great opportunity to educate the city about green roof technology.”
Flagg also suggested using LED lighting for the building and collecting the condensation that will form on the structure to be used for irrigation.
While the board approved the design, the applicants will return to the design review board in July to show plans for landscaping and signage on the tower. The board’s final approval of the design is contingent on City Council approval of a pending redevelopment agreement between the City and Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida Inc.
In other board business:
• Joanna Diz, project manager for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s bus shelter project, reported that the first shipment of the new bus shelters is scheduled to arrive in July. The bus shelters will be installed at seven Downtown locations, replacing existing shelters. The old shelters will be relocated to other bus stops in the suburbs, she said.
• The design review board also heard the plans for the renovation of Treaty Oak Park, a project the City began three years ago. The existing sidewalk around the tree will be removed and replaced with a wider walkway. The irrigation system for the historic live oak will also be improved.
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