From the Ground Up: Mercy Children's Hospital, Phase I

Owner/developer: Mercy Hospital Springfield
General contractor: McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. (St. Louis)
Architect: Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative and Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects (Little Rock, Ark.)
Engineers: Olsson Associates Inc., civil; SSE Inc., (St. Louis), structural; and Heideman Associates Inc., mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Size: 30,000 square feet
Estimated cost: $19 million
Lender: None
Estimated completion date: October
Project description: Mercy Springfield Communities spokeswoman Sonya Kullmann said Phase I of the east-wing addition and remodeling project covers three floors of the six-story building. Features include a covered entrance for the Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Center, which houses the hospital’s St. Jude affiliate clinic and is relocating to the first floor by May 1. Kullmann said square footage was added to the redesigned children’s hospital to upgrade the infrastructure, including the power and air handling systems, and to offer child-friendly features. Springfield’s second Ronald McDonald House opened in November on the sixth floor, and the second floor will house pediatric outpatient testing and treatment and support services. Other floors will house the pediatric intensive care unit, trauma center and a dedicated burn unit, though a timeline for those phases is not in place. Kullmann said the project is being funded by Mercy cash reserves and donations.

Send project info to bbrown@sbj.net.