“It’s been a long time coming,” said Lawrence Fields, chairman of the St. Clair County Healthcare Authority. “It’s taken a lot of hard work by a lot of good folks.”
Fields said the ground breaking ceremony is one of the biggest events for the county and Pell City.
“It looks like the new hospital is going to become a reality,” Fields said. “We’re very excited.”
Liz Moore, a spokeswoman for St. Vincent’s Health System, said the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19.
“The public is invited to attend,” Moore said.
She said the ground breaking ceremony is on the Jefferson State Community College campus, instead of the actual hospital site.
“That site is not very accessible for a large group,” Moore said.
Officials say the new hospital site is not suitable for a ground breaking ceremony, and a temporary gravel road must be constructed to the site.
Moore said workers will transport dirt from the hospital site by dump truck to the Jefferson State Community College site for the official ground breaking ceremony. An enclosed tent is expected to be set up in case of bad weather.
She said officials are still working on the actual program, but a representative from each of the five entities involved with the project are invited to speak.
Those entities involved with the hospital project include the St. Clair County Healthcare Authority, the St. Clair County Commission, the St. Clair County Economic Development Council, the city of Pell City and St. Vincent’s Health System.
“We have another meeting set for Jan. 5 to finalize the program,” Moore said.
She said architects are still working on actual architectural drawings of the $31.4 million facility. That cost includes the construction of the actual facility, site preparation, and new state-of-the-art medical equipment for the new hospital.
“We’re very excited to take this official step,” Moore said.
She said the new 40-bed hospital will have all private rooms. The 76,000 square foot facility will have outpatient care, educational services inside the hospital’s classroom, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, and a large emergency room.
The hospital is being constructed on a 16-acre site, visible from Interstate 20.
St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon said the new hospital is adjacent to the planned Veterans Administration Nursing Home and is at the corner of the new planned road and Wolf Creek Road North.
He said the county and Pell City are jointly building the access road, which is estimated to cost $750,000.
Batemon said a $5.5 million grant will pay for most of the construction of the road.
He said the road plan includes the widening of the existing Hazelwood Drive, and building a road off the access road to Jefferson State Community College, just off Hazelwood Drive.
Batemon said the proposed road is about a mile long.
He said once the hospital is completed, the city and county can market the old hospital site on Dr. John Haynes Parkway for commercial use. The property includes the former Department of Human Resources facility and other undeveloped land.
Batemon said there is about 30 acres total on Dr. John Haynes Parkway that Pell City and the St. Clair County Commission will own for future commercial development.
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