Often called the "economic engine" of Kirkland, the entire Totem Lake neighborhood is experiencing an exciting revitalization. All around us are signs of the growth and rebirth of our neighborhood.
The most visible sign is the rising construction of your new emergency department and patient facility at Evergreen Healthcare. I say your new buildings, because as a public hospital, these buildings really belong to you, the residents of King County Public Hospital District No. 2.
It was because of your strong support of our bond levy that this project is possible, and I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you all again for that support!
Expansion to triple space of ED
This much-needed expansion will ensure that Evergreen will continue to meet the community's growing need for health care services. The 40,000 square foot emergency department (ED) will more than triple the space of the current ED. The new adjacent eight-floor patient facility will have the capacity to accommodate as many as 192 patient-care beds to replace the original double-occupancy rooms, along with shelled space for future operating rooms and associated support services. Initially, three patient-care floors of the patient facility will be finished as part of the project. Additional space will be utilized over time.
Both buildings are on schedule to open in early 2007, and at that time we will be holding an open house, devoted specifically for you, the members of our community, so that each of you can get an up close and personal look at the new facilities before we open.
Adjacent to Evergreen, the Washington State Department of Transportation and Sound Transit continue work on the I-405 Totem Lake Freeway Station Project, which includes HOV on- and off-ramps in the I-405 median, and a new bridge at N.E. 128th Street.
This new bridge will give us an additional east-west route over the freeway and will provide faster, safer commutes for all of us by eliminating the need for buses and carpools and vanpools to weave through freeway traffic. It will also provide direct access to the future Totem Lake Transit Center, which will be located at the southwestern corner of the Evergreen campus.
A good team
I am delighted to share with you that this has been a very successful working partnership among the city of Kirkland, Sound Transit, Evergreen and King County Metro, who are all working together on a project that will provide a major bus transit center as well as parking and five floors of office and clinical space. Construction on this exciting project is expected to begin this fall.
Road construction is also under way on the Kirkland Nickel Stage I project, which is funded by the additional nickel paid in your gas taxes for highway projects. This involves widening the N.E. 116th Street bridge and building noise walls between N.E. 85th Street and N.E. 100th Street. The project will also improve the 116th Street interchange and add an additional lane from NE 85th to N.E. 124th - both northbound and southbound. We will all benefit from this project with the reduced congestion through the notorious "Kirkland Crawl."
Several other projects are also taking shape, including the new 150-room Marriot Courtyard hotel, scheduled to open this summer on the corner of N.E. 124th Street and 113th Avenue N.E. And the Totem Lake Mall development project continues to make progress. The mall re-design proposes 560,000 square feet of ground and upper level retail space, a 13-screen multiplex theater, a 144,000 square foot office building and 216 residential units. City staff meets regularly with representatives of the mall owners, and if all continues to go well, construction could begin in the spring or early summer of 2007.
I am proud to say that all of these ongoing projects have included in their design art, landscaping, and pedestrian walkways to maintain the natural beauty and atmosphere that makes Totem Lake such a wonderful area in which to live, work and play.
It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of this wonderful Totem Lake community, and we're thrilled that Evergreen Healthcare is part of the growth of this vital area. Next time you're in the neighborhood, I hope you'll stop and take a moment to envision all the positive changes the next few years will bring.
Steven E. Brown, FACHE, is the chief executive officer of Evergreen Healthcare.
[[In-content Ad]]
