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After 18 months of preconstruction, Clark Construction Group, LLC has begun Phase I of a multi-phase, $130 million, four-year contract at Central California’s Community Regional Medical Center, currently the largest redevelopment project in the city of Fresno. This first phase involves an acute care building with burn and trauma facilities, women’s health pavilion, central energy plant and three level parking garage. The expansion also includes 10 new operating rooms, 58 intensive-care unit beds and two helicopter pads for airlifting patients.
Designed by RTKL of Chicago and Ratcliff of San Francisco, the 340,000-square-foot center will provide the highest level of trauma care available in the region and include state-of-the-art technologies and equipment for the Community Medical Center. Connected to an existing 10-story hospital, the addition will feature a five-story curved curtain wall with steel and brick accents.
The trauma center is the centerpiece of the redevelopment effort and features a dramatic cylindrical lobby that climbs the entire height of the building. A link to the existing hospital enables the unification of new and existing floors for maximum space utilization. The exterior features a roman brick identical to the existing masonry. Perforated metal sunscreens, attached to the exterior facade, shield the building’s windows from the California sun.
A new lobby entrance will include a visitor and patient drop off area. Providing both visual relief and access to the outdoors, the new lobby is designed to incorporate interior and exterior spaces. Site access, both for pedestrians and vehicles, will improve entering and exiting the building, security for the campus, and expand surface parking.
The landscape portion of the project is part of a major 10-year redevelopment plan. Elaborate plantings, decorative masonry and precast elements will adorn the 58-acre site at Divisadero and Fresno streets. Additional components, another $60 million of construction, will include medical office buildings, extensive remodeling and seismic upgrades to the existing hospital.
Phase One completion of this project is expected in 2004. Clark Construction Group, LLC is headquartered in Bethesda, Md.
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