MMC's got big plans; public's got questions

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

By JOSIE HUANG, Portland Press Herald Writer

A neonatal center, a helipad, a utilities plant and another parking garage - the planned Maine Medical Center expansion is big, and Portland residents are brimming with questions.

Will the buildings' architecture mesh with the neighborhoods? How much noise will a helicopter make flying to the top of the hospital garage?

"I think it's only fair," said Patrick Murphy, president of the Western Promenade Neighborhood Association, "if you're a large institution in the middle of densely populated neighborhoods that you comply as much as possible with the quality of life for people who live around the hospital."

In the coming months, the public can share opinions on the nearly $104 million project with the city, starting with a Planning Board workshop at 3:30 this afternoon in Room 209 of City Hall.

A public hearing will take place sometime in July. Votes on whether to approve zoning for the project will follow, first by the Planning Board, and probably a month later by the City Council, according to the city's Planning and Development Department.

The core of the project is a $62 million four-story birthing center and nursery. But neighborhood leaders and planning officials predict that the $1.5 million helipad on the 12th floor of the existing garage will inspire the most debate.

"It's noisy, and there's a certain element of risk," said Orlando Delogu, chairman of the Planning Board and a West End resident. "You're landing an aircraft on top of a building in a busy part of Portland."

But the helicopter would be used only four to five times a week, and studies indicate that "it's not going to be an intolerable amount of noise," said hospital spokesman Wayne Clark.

Trauma patients from other parts of the state now are flown to the Portland International Jetport, then sped by ambulance to Maine Med. Clark said a helipad at the hospital could shave life-saving minutes off travel time.

If the helipad is approved, Portland hospitals could go from having no helipads to two. Mercy Hospital, which plans to relocate to a site by the Fore River, got city approval for a helipad at that site about two years ago, said Alex Jaegerman, director of the city's planning division.

Other key elements of the Maine Med expansion:

A birthing center to be built at the site of the former New England Rehabilitation Hospital bounded by Ellsworth, Crescent, Wescott and Charles streets. The plan calls for closing Charles Street and connecting the new building to the medical center.

An $18 million utility center on Gilman Street to provide a central location for the hospital's boilers and air conditioners.

A seven-story parking garage next to the existing garage on Congress Street, featuring pedestrian skywalks to the medical center. To build the $18 million structure, two homes on Crescent Street would have to be razed, said hospital officials. The hospital has purchased the homes.

A $4 million face-lift for the entry area of Maine Med, including the lobby and the streets. This part of the project is awaiting state approval.

The birthing center and utility center have already received certificates of need from the state. State approval was not necessary for the helipad because it fell under a cost threshold, or for the parking garage, which comes under local purview.

Neighborhood organizations have met regularly with Maine Med over the past eight months, and say the talks have been positive even when they veer toward the topic of future expansion.

Maine Med, as the state's largest hospital and major trauma center, says it needs to grow to keep up with a rising demand for its services. But it's clear that neighbors are unwilling to see Maine Med convert any more homes for its use.

"It not only removes (the homes) from the tax base," said Murphy (hospitals do not pay property tax), "it invades on the residential aspects of the neighborhood."

Other groups that meet with Maine Med are the Parkside Neighborhood Association and a representative of residents of Valley and Gilman streets, which abut the hospital.

If the City Council approves the project, it will go back to the Planning Board for final site plan approval, likely by the fall. Maine Med says it hopes to start the expansion by then and to complete the project in three years.

The hospital also hopes to erect an ambulatory surgery center and parking garage at its Scarborough campus, but has not applied for state approval yet.

Staff Writer Josie Huang can be contacted at 791-6364 or at: jhuang@pressherald.com

To top of page