February 1, 2017 | Allen Van Driel, CEO
After years of preparatory work, we are at last finally ready to start actual construction of the new hospital! I reviewed some notes regarding the history of this project. If it seems like we’ve been working on it a long time, it’s because we have! The facility master plan, comparing the benefits and costs of renovating the existing facility, to construction of a replacement facility was completed in 2013. From the time that master plan document was presented to the Board of Trustees, and they decided to proceed with the replacement facility, we have been working to locate and acquire a site, plan the layout of the new facility, develop cost projections, obtain financing, and finalize the details of the building plans. In December 2016 Hutton Construction delivered a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for construction of the building to the Board of Trustees. That GMP was approximately $21,383,000. In addition to the GMP, there are other costs associated with the project, including site purchase, acquisition of utilities, architect fees, and equipment and furniture purchases. The GMP was almost exactly what we had anticipated for the projected budget nearly two years ago. When we presented the proposed building project in town hall meetings to Smith County voters a year ago, we said that the price was uncertain, but the price projection was what we thought it would cost. Based on that projection, the voters of Smith County approved the project by an 80% margin. Now we have the GMP that matches those projections!
The next step, now that plans are nearly complete, is to actually get started with construction. On Thursday, February 23, 2017 we will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site of the new building. Following that ceremony, we will host a reception at the Srader Center to answer questions and discuss the project. Details of the ceremony, including directions for how to access the site, will be published and posted on our Facebook page soon. Stay tuned. We hope you will join us that day (and we hope the weather is more like it has been the last week of January than it normally is in February) to celebrate and anticipate.
Once the ceremonial groundbreaking is complete, we expect mobilization of actual construction equipment and workers to begin in mid – March. From initiation of construction, the plans call for an 18 month period to completion. That means if the schedule holds, we should be complete and ready for occupancy in September 2018. Many things between now and then can affect that date, but that is our tentative schedule at this time. Wish us good weather and good luck as we proceed!