A schematic design for a new U-M Health System facility on the west side of Ann Arbor was approved Thursday by the Board of Regents.
The $46 million project will provide a significant expansion of health care services. The 75,000-square-foot facility will include primary and specialty care, infusion, clinical pathology and radiology services. The Board of Regents approved the project at its July 2015 meeting.
The new West Ann Arbor Health Center will be constructed on 13.9 acres in Scio Township that was donated to the university in 2010. It is located on Parkland Plaza Drive about 1.5 miles from the current West Ann Arbor Health Center.
The building is scheduled to open in 2017.
Stella Cunegin
Customer/Patients friendly, more services onsite and maybe the same day, blood draw, x-ray!
Stella Cunegin
Customer/Patients friendly, more services onsite and maybe the same day, blood draw, x-ray!
Kenneth Winter
When and how will the neighborhood be consulted? And will it be too late?
Sarah Ross
The neighborhood is organized and has approached the University directly, requesting the opportunity to work with the project coordinators to address a list of concerns generated in a series of neighborhood meetings. So far all we have heard back is what we find in the media and some rumors through the grapevine. We had hoped that the University Planning and Development Department had learned something from their experience around the upset in response to the installation of solar panels on the former Pfizer property about community engagement, but perhaps not. It certainly is frustrating to extend an invitation and not even be acknowledged.
Anne Heaton
That is very annoying
Tom Smyth
Shame! This is a public institution after all. Time for a sit in? Name the place and time, I will be there.
Hermann Weiss
I hope that the pertinent U of M officials will interact in meaningful ways with the communities adjacent to the project. At present there is a lack of information with regard to the U of M’s view of the process regarding input from us out here. One of my concerns is the considerable increase in traffic.
Mary Ann Marquardt
This is huge facility located in a,residential neighborhood. How are the safety issues being addressed to accommodate pedestrians and a road that is not wide enough for the amount of traffic? It does not appear any traffic study was,ever made.
S. Hope Dundas
I, too, am very interested in how they plan to integrate this large new facility into a residential neighborhood which lacks sidewalks and the ability to handle the amount of traffic they are proposing. And as a neighbor, it’s rather disappointing that they haven’t been very forthcoming with discussion with their proposed neighbors.
Anne Heaton
It would be so much easier if U of M would be forthcoming with us. How do we engage in a dialogue with them? Who knows the answer to this? What are our rights as property owners? Can someone put this into context for me? What happens when a facility like this goes in a residential neighborhood? What are the obligations of the facility to the neighborhood? Legally do they have any obligation to the nighborhood they are building in, to our homes not losing value? Also, are there any laws about trees and green spaces in this area?
Claire Maitre
There are four densely populated residential communities that will be strongly impacted by this development. These communities are home to numerous children who often walk between the communities to visit friends. There are no continuous sidewalks along Little Lake Drive which hasn’t been a real problem in the past because the light traffic load has been mostly residents coming and going from their homes. UMHS estimates that there will be about 300 employees at the new facility. This will reduce the safety of the children who use the road on bikes and on foot. At the very least, U of M should take responsibility for installing sidewalks, the placement of which should be decided by the communities that will be impacted. If U of M wants to be a benevolent and thoughtful neighbor to this residential area, they might consider creating a community park / playground for the children whose activities would be displaced by this development project. I’m sure the communities and other small businesses in this area would have other life-enhancing suggestions for how to create room for this rather large facility that seeks to impose a significant amount of change on the life-style of those who established this small hamlet in Scio Township. I sincerely hope that their thoughts and suggestions will be sought after during this process. It would be the communitarian thing to do.
Mary King
There are no sidewalks or lighting on the road into this neighborhood. Neighbors are already dodging cars when walking around the block or to the bus service. It is not unusual to see residents who use a wheelchair, in the road, trying to get around safely. And this problem will be made exponentially worse with the building of a new, 75,000 sq ft health care system in the very middle of the neighborhood. We are asking that U of M officials sit down with representatives from the neighborhood to discuss traffic and safety plans to prevent pedestrian injuries. Doesn’t that seem like a reasonable request?
Gayle Turner
I hope that you will consult with your neighbors regarding the impact of your construction on our beautiful wetlands and our environment as well as the quality of life of our life and safety—not only of current residents but of your future employees and consumers. Your schematic design was striking—an industrial building and parking with a unnatural turf stripped of any of the natural habitat that currently exists. The turf and the lack of natural landscape would have a negative environmental impact and destroy the natural and native beauty as well as on the sustainable environment that supports birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife. I was recently hospitalized in Chelsea Community Hospital which was constructed in the midst of a natural landscape and trees which provides a beautiful and tranquil environment that respects the residents, natural habitat, and consumers. Hopefully, you will allow your neighbors to support you in mitigating an all-or-nothing approach from a natural and rural environment which we enjoy and have chosen to live in to a purely industrial presence that will degrade all of that.
Gayle Turner
I hope that you will consult with your neighbors regarding the impact of your construction on our beautiful wetlands and our environment as well as the quality of life of our life and safety—not only of current residents but of your future employees and consumers. Your schematic design was striking—an industrial building and parking with a unnatural turf stripped of any of the natural habitat that currently exists. The turf and the lack of natural landscape would have a negative environmental impact and destroy the natural and native beauty as well as on the sustainable environment that supports birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife. I was recently hospitalized in Chelsea Community Hospital which was constructed in the midst of a natural landscape and trees which provides a beautiful and tranquil environment that respects the residents, natural habitat, and consumers. Hopefully, you will allow your neighbors to support you in mitigating an all-or-nothing approach from a natural and rural environment which we enjoy and have chosen to live in to a purely industrial presence that will degrade all of that.