June 22, 2007

Summer construction information

MGHers can expect to see a number of significant campus changes during the summer months, leading to the demolition of the Clinics, Tilton and Vincent Burnham Kennedy (VBK) buildings and the construction of the Building for the Third Century (B3C).

Through July, construction teams and MGH Planning and Construction staff are vacating the Clinics, Tilton and VBK buildings. Interior connections between the buildings and the White and Ellison buildings will be closed off, and in mid-July the Clinics first floor corridor to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) will be closed. One week prior to this closing, the MGH/MEEI Connector Bridge will be open for travel between the hospitals for clinical purposes only.

The current Emergency Department (ED) entrance and a portion of the adjacent ambulance drop-off area will become part of the B3C construction site. Projects are planned throughout the summer to help the MGH operate for the next four years with a reduced ED drop-off area and a temporary ED entrance. Construction of this temporary entrance will begin in the Main Lobby during the week of June 25. In late September, a fence will be built around the entire B3C site, from the new ED entrance, along the edge of the Clinics building, around the corner along Fruit Street and behind the MEEI. To ensure safety and to reroute patient and visitor traffic away from the ED/main entrance ramp, a series of sidewalk and street curb projects will be underway in July. These projects will support the following relocations:

July

• The Partners shuttle bus stop will relocate from the Wang Ambulatory Care Center (WACC) to the Jackson building entrance.

August

• The taxi stand will move to North Grove Street next to the Parkman Street Garage. Inpatient discharges relocate from the main entrance to the WACC lobby.

September

• Non-emergent ambulance pick-ups and drop-offs will relocate from the main entrance to the Cox building entrance.
• The main entrance driveway will be restricted to urgent ambulances only.
  The main entrance patient drop-off area will move to the area where the current taxi stand is located.
• Pedestrians will begin to use safer intersection crossings and covered routes from the core campus to the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care, the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center and the MEEI.

Construction updates will be highlighted in the What's Happening section of MGH Hotline. For more information, contact Brad Seamans of the MGH Planning Office at (617) 726-2442.