Mayor Palmieri and Mohawk Valley Health System Announce First Public Meeting on Future Re-use of Former St. Elizabeth Medical Center
UTICA -- Utica Mayor Robert M. Palmieri, together with Darlene Stromstad, CEO of Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS), announced that the first opportunity for the public to comment on the future re-use of the former St. Elizabeth Medical Center has been scheduled. The meeting will be held at 7 PM on Thursday, November 16th in the gymnasium at the Parkway Recreation Center on the corner of Oneida Street and the Memorial Parkway.
In June, the City contracted with a team of highly qualified consultants that had proven experience in the re-use planning of large hospital facilities throughout New York state; the team consists of:
- Rupp Pfalzgraf – legal issues including the conservation easement, SEQRA, zoning
- Architectural Resources – architecture, concept planning, community outreach
- Fisher Associates – survey, mapping, SEQRA, transportation, zoning, community outreach
- C&S Companies – survey, mapping, SEQRA, transportation, zoning, community outreach
- MRB Group – market analysis
Since June, this team has been familiarizing themselves with the St. Elizabeth campus, the context of the south Utica neighborhood and the City as a whole along with past planning studies that have involved the campus. With this phase of work completed, the consultants, together with the City and MVHS, would like to hear from local residents about what they feel is important to consider when developing the re-use plan for the campus.
Utica Mayor Robert M. Palmieri said: “The re-use of St. Elizabeth’s presents an incredible opportunity for the City to re-make a large portion of our south Utica neighborhood. Input from the public regarding the re-use is critical to the success of this effort – from what future uses should be considered to how the future development should look to integration of the campus into the surrounding neighborhood. I encourage all local residents to participate in this important meeting.”
MVHS CEO Darlene Stromstad said: “Since the announcement of the Wynn Hospital project, MVHS has been committed to finding a use for its facilities that would be vacated once the new hospital was complete. This partnership with the City of Utica, and now Rupp Pfalzgraf, on a master re-use plan for the St. Elizabeth Campus will help evaluate options for the campus in current real estate development conditions. Public meetings are an integral part of the re-use plan and a wonderful opportunity for the community to share its ideas for the future development of the St. Elizabeth Campus. We look forward to the conversation and feedback from this meeting.”
