A proposed hospital at the site of the former Salt Lake City Sears department store could be more than 20 stories tall if project leaders get their way.
The campus could also include a pedestrian bridge over Main Street, an area for food trucks along State Street, open space in the center of the block and two hospital towers.
Intermountain Health officials presented those plans to the Salt Lake City Council at a Tuesday afternoon meeting. It had been almost a year since the health care system first went before the council in hopes of persuading members to give the nod to a zoning change that would allow the proposed medical campus to be built at State Street and 800 South.
At Tuesday’s meeting, council members expressed disappointment over what they saw as lacking street-level businesses for patients, their families and passersby. The council has prioritized creating a more active State Street.
“We’ve tried to balance, and totally understand the concerns around, street activation,” Bentley Peay, Intermountain Health’s senior director of real estate, told the council. “This is an urban hospital. It’s different than any of our other hospitals we’ve ever built. At the same time, it’s still a hospital. So, we’ve had to balance the access for our patients to get emergency care and other services at the facility with the concerns of the council.”
In a brief presentation to the council, hospital system officials said plans for the campus would include an inpatient tower, another tower for clinics, and some ground-level space for businesses and offices. It also would feature a central courtyard.
Intermountain Health officials estimate they’ll need 1,750 parking stalls on the campus, including some 500 spaces below ground. Above-ground parking spaces would require the construction of a parking garage across Main Street that would connect to the hospital campus with a pedestrian bridge.
Discussions over how to fit a hospital into an urban neighborhood full of bars and restaurants on the edge of downtown dominated Tuesday’s meeting with council members expressing frustration that Intermountain Health has yet to present a design that they feel would contribute to an energetic neighborhood.
(Intermountain Health) A rendering of Intermountain Health's proposed downtown hospital at State Street and 800 South.
Hospital officials say at least half the street-level buildings on the campus would be accessible to the general public. Ideas presented to the council included a coffee shop and hospital-related businesses like a pharmacy, therapy offices and reception areas.
Some council members, however, remained unconvinced that Intermountain Health’s proposal would bring energy to the area.
“I feel that this doesn’t really fit too well yet,” council member Alejandro Puy said. “You’re touching two major arteries for the city: Main Street and State Street. I don’t want to speak for everybody here, but I believe that most of us want to see, and our ordinances and our plans show, those two places to be active and attractive and thriving.”
Council members also asked hospital officials to consider including amenities like a child care facility and street-level retail spaces within the planned parking garage on Main Street.
Council Chair Victoria Petro said she would like to get the hospital rezoning off of the council’s plate before summer ends.
