Barricades and walkway detours started going up on Aug. 24 for construction of the $15.3 million concourse that will connect John Sealy Hospital with six other UTMB medical buildings.
The project is designed to modernize 75,000 square feet of first-floor corridor and lobby space. Completion is scheduled in June 2013.
Two detours are planned around the construction:
- The eastern part of the “Main Street” corridor in John Sealy Hospital will close. The Main Street coffee shop and hospital chapel will relocate temporarily. The coffee shop will move into the nearby Café on the Court cafeteria. The chapel will move to quarters immediately north of the cafeteria. The Main Street entrance to the gift shop will close. The gift shop will remain open, with access through the lobby. The corridor is expected to reopen in February 2013.
- The south-facing 9th Street entrance to UTMB Health Clinics (UHC), formerly known as the University Hospital Clinics building, will be closed. Pedestrians from the south will need to follow an alternate second-floor route to the UHC using the entrance at John Sealy Hospital. UHC’s north entrance will remain open.
The concourse will feature terrazzo in the open lobby spaces, shorter routes to clinics, and materials designed in specific locations to help visitors find restrooms, elevators and other parts of the buildings. Separate corridors are planned for the public and in-house personnel to create a pleasant environment and allow staff members to more easily complete their work.
The project also is designed to provide independent climate and utility systems for the ground floor and upper floors in John Sealy Hospital. Flood-resistant building materials will be used to minimize potential damage in the event of flooding.
Other buildings to be linked by the project include the Clinical Sciences Building, John W. McCullough Building, John Sealy Annex, R. Waverley Smith Pavilion, and Research Building 6, formerly called Children’s Hospital.