Surgical center taking shape
Friday, May 16, 2008
Springfield, Ohio — The foundation work for the Ohio Valley Medical Center is wrapping up, and visual signs of the planned surgical hospital should be evident soon, the project's developer said.
If you drive by the site in Springfield — 100 W. Main St., you can see a minitower of concrete block for one of the elevator shafts, said Ken Dyar, regional director of operation with Prexus Health. "We should see steel delivered within a couple of weeks and steel erection should start late May, early June."
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Mad River Steel is one of the local contractors Prexus plans to work with during the next 10 months of the construction project, Dyar said.
"There's been local contractors providing bids," he said. "We hope to continue to award them (locally.)"
Weather will have little effect on the next phase of the project and Dyar expects construction to remain on schedule for the spring 2008 completion.
The steel beams will enclose a 46,000-square-foot hospital that will serve the specialties of general surgery, urology, gynecology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, podiatry, gastroenterology and ear, nose and throat.
The hospital is the first major project since the city created its unified design plan for downtown construction projects. The two-story, $12 million to $15 million hospital will house operating rooms and administration on the first floor and hospital beds and food service on the second floor.
Aesthetic features will include a 4-foot-high architectural brick- and wrought-iron fence, ornamental lighting and brick pavers to match core block design, an ornamental rooftop cornice, landscaping and copper roof valet building/entrance.
Thirty-seven surgeons have invested in the project, which they expect will create between 120 and 150 jobs.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0347 or kmori@coxohio.com.
