The Longwood Medical Area (LMA) forum hosted representatives from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and its architects to announce its plans for a new medical building that is slated to be built in the west campus.
The forum was held at BIDMC on Jan. 22 and was filled with about 50 people in attendance. The meeting was the first public meeting to kick off the planning and approval process.
The new building is currently proposed to be approximately 345,000 square feet located at 111 Francis St. The site is 42,700 square feet of largely non-developed land.
This will be the first new building on the west campus in 20 years, and will “meet an acute need for resources,” according to Walter Armstrong, a representative for Beth Israel. The building will have 158 inpatient beds, made up of 128 medical/surgical beds and 30 intensive/critical care beds.
The proposed project will be approximately 300 feet tall and will not provide new parking. The development team estimates that it will provide 80 to 100 new permanent jobs for varying skill levels.
In terms of the design, it is still “progressing,” according to Armstrong. The building will contain modern, single-bed rooms to accommodate for more patients and technology. The building will be connected to the Rosenberg building and will have two sky bridges on the third and fifth levels. One sky bridge will be for public use, and the other will be for clinical staff only.
This building will also have the hospital’s helipad, which will be relocated from an adjacent building and be approximately 60 feet higher than the existing one. There will also be a courtyard on the 6th level.
Residents asked how much BIDMC anticipated the project would cost, to which no number was given because it is still in the process of being designed.
The team still has to do several studies to gauge impact on the community, including a noise study for the helipad and a study on how much of the building will be seen from the area’s parks and public land.
Residents’ comments were relatively brief, though one resident asked that the team make it a priority to get the LEED bird friendly certification to protect the surrounding wildlife.
The hospital will have a public comment period and will meet with City agencies. After that, BIDMC will submit an updated review document, which will be presented to the LMA forum again.
“We look forward to your input on the design,” Armstrong said. “We will be back for a similar meeting in May.”
For more information on this project, contact Katelyn Sullivan from the Boston Planning and Redevelopment Authority (BPDA) at [email protected] or 617-918-4425.