Columbus Regional Health is continuing with plans to rehabilitate the former Clarion Hotel and Conference Center site on the city’s west-side, but may not use all the acreage for medical buildings.
Kelsey DeClue, hospital spokeswoman, said Monday that hospital officials are continuing to evaluate the 20-acre hotel site near Interstate 65, where demolition and restoration activities continue, as hospital officials also consider a future use for 800 acres of farmland near Garden City it purchased last year for future expansion.
DeClue said the hospital system, through Southeastern Indiana Medical Holdings, a CRH holding company, purchased the Clarion property first, on July 17, 2017, and then purchased the farm acreage in March 2018.
A land use committee is examining a variety of potential land uses during two different phases for the 800-acre Garden City property, DeClue said in an earlier interview. Following an organizational meeting this month, the committee is spending about six months on the first phase focusing on researching and defining the best areas on the farm acreage for medical services.
Between 90 and 150 acres will receive initial consideration for the location of new medical facilities, she said, with the evaluation focusing on visibility, access, elevation and drainage. This summer, the committee will then move on to the second phase, when a development consultant would be brought in to evaluate the rest of the property for economic development potential.
At the same time the committee works on these two phases for the Garden City property, restoration work is continuing on the Clarion site following the demolition of the hotel last year to raise the grade level of the site as much as 6 feet on the back portions of the property, where flooding has been common, DeClue said.
“There is so much mitigation — so much due diligence work, that needs to be done at the Clarion site,” DeClue said.
The back of the property is directly next to a swampy, water-filled area filled with trees — the People Trail winds behind the property and is closed occasionally behind the former Clarion property because of extensive flooding.
The huge pile of rubble that is currently being processed as fill to raise the grade level is actually construction debris from the Indiana Department of Transportation work site south of Columbus to Seymour, where contractors are expanding I-65 in both directions to three lanes from two.
“It’s a chance to reuse rubble to mitigate the flooding problem,” DeClue said.
Contractors initially used rubble from the Clarion’s demolition as fill, but there was not enough, she said.
DeClue said no matter how the hospital system decides to utilize the Clarion property, CRH will do whatever is necessary to make sure it is a shovel ready development area when the site work there is completed.
In earlier interviews, hospital officials have said that since most of Columbus’ growth is occurring on the west side, the hospital system is taking steps to better serve people who live or work in these growth areas.
Since the massive floods of 2008, which closed Columbus Regional Hospital for five months, hospital officials have said its 30-acre east-side campus on 17th Street, the hospital’s location for more than 100 years, is landlocked and doesn’t allow for significant, cost-effective growth.
DeClue said there is no completion date set for the Clarion property’s rehabilitation, and the hospital system is now pivoting to working with Columbus officials on the FairOaks Mall project.
The city and CRH completed purchasing FairOaks in December, and have formed a supervisory board to steer future redevelopment of the mall property on 25th Street. The city has announced plans to create a year-round community recreational and sports tourism complex at the mall, including moving the city’s parks department offices into the building.
Parks officials want to make sure the new facility isn’t just about athletics, but has a community-center focus, with offerings such as cooking classes, activities parents can do with their children and more. Child care may become a part of the equation to allow visitors to have a location where young children can stay while parents participate in the recreational or sports activities or classes.
The mall property is within walking distance of the hospital’s 17th Street campus, offering easy access for patients to visit both facilities in the future.
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Columbus Regional Hospital is a community-focused, regional referral health care facility serving a 10-county area, offering specialized care that is more often found in much larger metropolitan areas.
250,000: Number of patients Columbus Regional Health cares for each year.
2,500: Columbus Regional Health employees.
$317 million: Annual operating expenses for the health system.
— Source: Columbus Regional Health
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2008: Plans are announced for a new Columbus Regional Hospital emergency department and patient tower. A record flood closes the hospital for five months. All employees remained as paid staff during the closure, and the hospital coordinated patient care for residents in the area through surrounding regional health systems.
2011: A flood wall is built around the entire main hospital campus. The health system changes its name to Columbus Regional Health.
2012: Surgical Services begins using the da Vinci Si Robotic Surgical System.
2013: WellConnect opens in downtown Columbus.
2014: Inspire Health Partners is created by a partnership through Columbus Regional Health, Schneck Medical Center and SIHO. Plans for an expanded Cancer Center and new Emergency Department are announced.
2016: The Cancer Center expansion is completed with state-of-the-art radiation equipment and physicians. The new Emergency Department is double the size of the previous facility. Volunteers in Medicine changes its name to VIMCare Clinic and opens in the former hospital emergency department space.
2017: Columbus Regional Health announces its plans to purchase the 20.7-acre former Clarion Hotel and Conference Center to better serve Columbus residents on the city’s growing west side. The hospital pays $4.25 million for the property, with no immediate timeline announced on development of the site.
2018: Columbus Regional Health purchases about 800 acres on Columbus’ southwest side for just over $11 million as a potential site for future expansion of its health care offerings.
2018: The city of Columbus and Columbus Regional Health partner to purchase the deteriorating FairOaks Mall on 25th Street with plans to renovate it into a year-round community recreational and sports tourism complex, and the new offices for Columbus Parks and Recreation.
— Source: Columbus Regional Health
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