Last modified: Friday, June 12, 2009
IU Trustees OK option for possible Wishard land swap
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2009
GARY, Ind. -- The Indiana University Board of Trustees today (June 12) approved a plan that would enable the Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County to swap land with the university so that it could eventually build a new Wishard Memorial Hospital facility directly west of the IUPUI campus.
The vote came during the trustees' regularly scheduled business meeting at the IU Northwest campus in Gary.
Under the agreement, IU would transfer ownership of approximately 26 acres of land directly west of the campus to the hospital corporation in exchange for the similar-sized parcel that the current hospital occupies directly north of the campus.
The transaction would be executed at the option of the Health and Hospital Corp., which has begun the planning process to see if a new hospital is feasible. A new hospital site is being considered because the existing facility is deemed too old and obsolete to renovate.
If the option is executed, the hospital corporation would pay IU $1 million. The corporation would also be responsible for demolishing existing structures on its newly acquired property, including the former Larue Carter hospital building and the old state board of public health building on Michigan Avenue.
Lynn Coyne, assistant vice president for real estate and economic development, told trustees that once the option is exercised, completion of the project would probably take five to seven years.
IU would then be free to redevelop the existing Wishard property.
Coyne said one of the benefits of the land swap is that it would ensure that Wishard Memorial Hospital remains close to the IU School of Medicine, providing continued easy access to IU's medical students and teaching staff. Also, existing parking capacity would be maintained throughout the project.
