May 14, 1999

After seven years of construction, officials of the Shriners Burns Hospital marked the opening of its new nine-story building with a dedication ceremony May 1.

Beginning in 1992, and without interruption to patient care, the top five floors of the new hospital were constructed over the original hospital using techniques more common to bridge building than building construction. Then the original building was razed, the underground parking was excavated and the first four floors were erected underneath the upper structure.

The tunnel connecting Shriners to the MGH also will be completed and reopened later this month.

The Shriners Burns Hospital, located across from the MGH on Blossom St., is a 30-bed pediatric burns facility, research and teaching center and is one of 22 Shriners hospitals in North America. The physicians and scientists at Shriners also are on staff at the MGH.