From staff reports
JOPLIN, Mo. —
The parking garage at St. John’s Regional Medical Center will be coming down next week.
Crews plan to start on the demolition Wednesday, according to Gary Jordan, chief operating officer. He said part of the area was mined and that has created instability that is weakening the parking garage. The hospital closed the parking garage in July because of structural problems.
“A lot of this is reclaimed mine land from the old days of mining,” Jordan said.
The hospital itself was built at a different time and using a different method, with piers resting on bedrock.
“The hospital is fine, the hospital is on stable ground,” said Miranda Lewis, spokesperson for St. John’s.
Jordan said the multi-story parking garage is 20 years old and when hospital officials weighed the cost of ongoing maintenance as well as the cost of shoring up the current garage, it made more economic sense to put in new parking.
The parking garage accommodates 269 cars, according to Lewis.
Signs will be placed around the hospital campus to direct visitors and patients to new parking areas and entrances that will be available during construction. Shuttle services also will continue to be available for patients, families and staff.
Jordan said the new parking all will be ground-level and will improve access to the main hospital through the east entrance, where the parking garage is now located. It also will create additional handicapped parking.
Demolition is expected to take two to three months.
