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ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN CELEBRATES FIFTH ANNIVERSARY By Jennifer Turner Birthdays are important events for kids, so it’s fitting to acknowledge a milestone birthday for a hospital that specializes in pediatric care. In mid-September, Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children (RMHC) celebrated its fifth anniversary. The medical complex, located at High & 20th, features a
160,000 square-foot state-of-the-art pediatric care center at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center (PSL), and a 100,000 square-foot pediatric focused medical office building adjacent to the hospital. The anniversary was commemorated with an internal event for patients and staff similar to a child’s birthday party, complete with cupcakes and
Lilly gets a surprise dessert from Child Life Specialist Corree at RMHC. Photo by Jeff Hersch
LOOK MA’, NO RETAIL!
By J. Patrick O’Leary Shea Properties and local property owner Shelly Don have partnered to build a five-story, 212-unit apartment building on the west side of York between East 17th & 18th Avenues. Shea’s Executive Vice President, Peter Culshaw, and team member John Kilrow presented the plans at a Sept. 2 meeting of the Zoning, Transportation, Land Use & License Committee of Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods. Although construction commenced in June with demolition and removal of the previous auto shop, homes and medical clinics on the property, issuance of a building permit is a few months off and completion is anticipated in January 2017. The building will be opened in phases, with the first residents moving in as early as next October. Culshaw and Kilrow told the committee that Don has been “assembling” land for the project over the past 30 years, and entered
balloons. An expanded social media campaign was also launched to further publicize the achievement. While the current hospital is five years old, the concept for it began long before that in 1990 when a group of 13 pediatric specialists decided to move their practices to PSL. They originally occupied part of a hospital tower at PSL, and the original space had approximately 20 hospital beds. It eventually became over-crowded and the decision was made by HCA, which owns the hospital, to build a new building devoted exclusively for the treatment of children. An important objective was to create a facility welcoming to kids, so much so it wouldn’t seem like an actual hospital. Architects and designers that specialize in planning these types of projects were hired and put to work. There were also numerous committees of doctors and nurses to figure out things like department adjacencies and locations of common use spaces, etc. and to establish and collect feedback on what an ideal overall building layout should look like. A committee of kids was also setup to select the artwork for the hospital. The resulting building is an inviting, colorful, airy space that is more like a kid-friendly hotel than a hospital. The waiting areas are pleasant and have both adult and child-sized furniture. There are kids’ play spaces throughout and special rooms for art projects. The cafeteria resembles a nicely appointed casual restaurant. Many pediatric patients are limited in what they can eat, so children taste-test and select some of the menu items for kids with continued on page 30
into a “50/50” partnership with Shea for the project, Shea’s first in the Capitol Hill area. Kilrow said pilings are being installed and some excavation is ahead as LIFE went to press. OZ Architecture is the project architect, and Weitz Construction is the contractor. The development fits within the current CMX-5 zoning (commercial, mixed-use, five stories), but will be entirely residential, due to “challenges” of restaurant and retail parking and neighbors’ objections, according to the speakers. The development will include 31 studio, 131 one-bedroom, and 50 two-bedroom apartments, with an average size of 820 sq. ft. Additionally, a handful of for-sale townhomes are part of the project. Two hundred and fifty one below- and at-grade parking spaces will continued on page 30