Cars Come First

Parking Structure Key Part of St. Jude Expansion

The 455-car garage will be completed at the Fullerton hospital in February. A five-story patient tower and new maternity and intensive-care units will follow it.

By Paul Napolitano

A seven-level parking structure that began construction in February will help handle overflow traffic into an expanding St. Jude Medical Center, located on a small site in the northern Orange County city of Fullerton.

"The parking structure is being built to support the hospital's expansion and renovation efforts," said Robert J. Fraschetti, president and CEO of St. Jude. "This multi-story structure will allow us to better accommodate our patients', visitors' and employees' parking needs."

The 455-car structure will be built on the east side of the medical center, located on East Valencia Mesa Drive and Harbor Boulevard.

"We designed the structure to take advantage of the narrow site, which is located on a hillside," said Don Marks of the project's architect, Sherman Oaks-based International Parking Design. "The slope of the hill was used to minimize the building's size and to lessen impact to surrounding neighbors."

The Newport Beach office of McCarthy Building Companies Inc will build the $9.2 million garage. The cast-in-place, post-tension concrete parking structure features a long-span beam and slab configuration with a moment-resisting seismic restraint system. The 178,700-sq.-ft. parking structure will have one-half level below grade. The exterior design includes exposed concrete and split-faced CMU.

The parking structure is scheduled to be completed in February 2005.

The project's narrow site and location offers some building challenges.

"Due to the proximity of the structure on a narrow site and within an operational hospital environment, we'll need to make special accommodations for construction access," said Randy Meier, McCarthy's preconstruction director. "The project is also located adjacent to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers reservoir, so we have worked closely with them during preconstruction to satisfy their needs."

St. Jude's Fraschetti said the multi-phased master plan will greatly advance medical care at the 50-year-old hospital, established by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.

"Phase one began with the Knott Family Endoscopy Center, and continues with the St. Jude Medical Plaza and the medical center parking structure," he said. "In 2005, St. Jude will begin construction on a new five-story patient tower, which will include a family-focused maternity unit, highly sophisticated neonatal intensive-care unit, expanded emergency department and additional intensive-care unit, all built to accommodate the latest technology. Equally important, the new renovations and additions will embody St. Jude's ideals of patient-centered care."