The Hartford Planning & Zoning Commission has approved a $280 million expansion plan that will reshape Connecticut Children’s Hartford campus – but without a pedestrian bridge and garage.
Connecticut Children’s had submitted a master plan that called for, among other things, the hospital to be connected to a structured parking garage across Washington Street.
But, at its four-hour Oct. 11 meeting, P&Z members voted 6-0 to approve the master plan with conditions. Those conditions included removing the parking garage and pedestrian bridge from the project as members had concerns about a lack of information provided and how big the parking garage would be. The pedestrian bridge was to be connected to the garage.
The master plan noted that the pedestrian bridge/walkway would be owned and operated by a third party and be part of an independent permit application process at a later date.
Other conditions set forward by P&Z states the proposed encroachment beyond the Washington Street building line will be limited to the fourth story and above. In addition, the site plan – after the conditions are met – must still be reviewed by the Planning & Zoning Commission.
P&Z officials said the master plan could be resubmitted for reconsideration at a later date to include the pedestrian bridge and garage.
The expansion will be anchored by a new 195,000-square-foot, eight-story patient tower on CT Children’s Washington Street campus. It will include a new fetal care center.
The current facility measures about 321,000 square feet with 187 beds.
And, according to the master plan, the expansion/addition will result in 50 NICU beds; 14 acuity adaptable patient beds; six advanced cellular gene therapy beds; six labor and delivery beds; and the capacity for 25 future beds. The plan also includes two new operating rooms in the fetal care center.
Connecticut Children’s President and CEO Jim Schmerling said in a statement the hospital “is thrilled the tower expansion master plan has been approved by the City of Hartford Planning & Zoning board. This was a critical approval and milestone in our journey to provide new services and enhanced care for more children. We look forward to our continued partnership with the city and neighborhood as we move forward with designing the new building to meet the growing health needs of our local community, state and region.”
Officials said the hope is that construction could begin in April 2023 and that the new tower could be completed by the end of 2025.
Connecticut Children’s said it plans to pay for the expansion by utilizing a number of different funding opportunities including philanthropy and structured loans.
