Plans Unveiled for New Southern Arizona Children’s Research Hospital

University Medical Center unveiled plans for their new Diamond Children’s Medical Center, which is scheduled to begin construction in the spring of 2008, located at 1501 N. Campbell Avenue in Tucson.

Designed by NTD Architecture, the $55 million facility is part of the main hospital’s $200 million expansion, but will feature a separate children’s entrance and lobby in addition to a 24/7 Pediatric Emergency Room. At 100,000 sq ft and 116 beds, Diamond Children’s Medical Center will be the only children’s hospital in the state that is connected to an academic research center, the new facility will offer the benefits of the latest and most innovative research practices.

In an effort to appeal to a broad range of children ranging in age from newborn to eighteen, NTD worked with Studio Productions to create an age-adaptable design that will be both interactive and educational. An Arizona theme touches on elements that are specific to the state, embracing motifs of mining, the Grand Canyon, archaeology, astronomy, gems and minerals, hot air ballooning, plant life and wildlife.
 
Additional thematic elements will include a dinosaur wall, a train depot kidhouse, a moving model train and an Aspen tree forest. Elevator graphics dedicated to themes of landscaping, plants, animals and mountains will set the tone for each floor.

The new center will feature a 36-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), a 36-room Medical/Surgical unit, a 20-room Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with six flex beds, a 12-room Hematology/Oncology unit, and a six-room Bone Marrow Transplantation unit. Both the NICU and Medical/Surgical unit have been designed to accommodate future growth.

Each private room in the facility will include a bathroom with a shower, a bed for parents to sleep in, and wireless Internet access, while each floor will feature a children’s playroom. Additional attributes to be included in the medical center will be a teen activity room, the Ronald McDonald Family Room, library, a stage for performances and parties, a meditation room, a healing garden and a gift shop.

The team assigned to the project includes NTD Architecture for architecture, engineering and interior design services, Kitchell Corporation for construction, Studio Productions for theming design, and The Innova Group for project management. Construction is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2010.

Banner Health’s plans for a regional hospital campus in the Southwest Valley took a step forward with the acquisition of 60 acres of land in Buckeye from DMB Associates Inc.

The hospital campus site is located north of I-10 and west of Verrado Way in the planned community of Verrado. The purchase price was not disclosed. The campus will begin operations as a smaller, community hospital that will transition into a highly specialized, tertiary institution as the population in the West Valley expands. The hospital campus will be built in phases and will provide a comprehensive range of services for the West Valley when completed.

Rowland Companies’ crews have begun construction of the new 25,686-sq-ft Sanctuary for St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Surprise.

The new Sanctuary, which is being constructed on an existing campus, will house 2,000 seats and will include a raised dome ceiling with a large open volume space over the raised alter. Traditional stained glass windows and wood pews will be under the new Spanish tile roof. Also included in the scope of work is a recently completed parking lot and walkway to the existing buildings. The architect is CCGG Architects, and construction is scheduled to be complete in the 4th quarter.

St. Clare of Assisi Parish was founded in July 2000, where mass was held in the Kingswood Elementary School. In the summer of 2001, St. Clare of Assisi Parish received two temporary buildings from the Diocese of Phoenix and they were erected on a 14-acre parcel purchased for the new parish. As the membership grew, the parish was involved in a major campaign to raise funds to build a new church and parish buildings. St. Clare of Assisi Parish has continued to grow each year and the members continue to support their Parish and the local community.

University Mechanical to Provide Mechanical Construction Services for Gilbert Plant

University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors, an EMCOR Group Inc. subsidiary, has been awarded a contract to provide mechanical construction services for a new 24 million-gal-per-day water treatment plant in Gilbert.

UMEC will construct and install process equipment and piping installation for the raw water control, ballasted flocculation basins, filter gallery and filters, blower room, reservoir/pre-chlorination well, finished water pump station, recovered water basin, thickened sludge pump station, sludge drying beds, chemical building and lox/ozone mechanical room for the water treatment plant.

UMEC will also provide all chemical piping as well as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing and ductwork. The plant, which will have an expansion capacity of 48mgd, will utilize a ballasted flocculation with a standard filtration treatment process.

Meadow Valley Awarded $67.9 Million Contract

Phoenix-based heavy highway contractor Meadow Valley Corp. has been awarded a new construction contract by the Arizona Department of Transportation valued at approximately $67.9 million.

Under the contract, Meadow Valley will improve I-17 in Phoenix from the Loop 101 interchange to Jomax Road. The work includes widening I-17 from four lanes to eight lanes, reconstructing one interchange with new bridges, and widening four existing bridges.

Meadow Valley expects to complete approximately half this contract in 2008 and the balance in 2009.

New Mixed-Use Development Planned for East Mesa

Glimcher Ventures Southwest LLC announced plans for a new mixed-use development, Baseline Marketplace, at the northwest intersection of Loop 202 San Tan Freeway and Baseline Road in Mesa.

The $100 million, 52-acre project will consist of retail shops, restaurants, office space and a multi-family residential development with over 350 units built by Trillium Development.

Construction is scheduled to begin this spring with completion expected in 2009. GVSW has seen significant interest from both retail and restaurant tenants because of the development’s location in a high traffic area and the surrounding population. Space is currently being leased and tenant announcements are expected in the coming months.

Work Begins on LEED-Platinum, Commercial Mixed-Use Development

Construction is now underway on what developers hope will be Arizona’s first certified LEED-Platinum, commercial mixed-use development. C.I. Development Group, a Mesa-based green development company, broke ground on its first project, M Square, located in Surprise. SVK Engineering and Design is the architect and Turner Construction is the general contractor.

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