Steel placement on the fourth and fifth stories of the new patient tower continues after a brief interruption in January due to a steel fabrication delay. This work, originally planned to be finished this month, should wrap up in March. The delay will not impact the timeline for the overall project. Starting in mid-January, scaffolding rose to enable exterior framing, which began Feb. 11. This is the first step in creating the building’s “skin.” Inside, rough framing of patient rooms, and piping work, continues.  

The City of Chico’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) is scheduled to review proposed plans for façade modifications of the existing medical center tower built in 1980. This public meeting is set for Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. in Conference Room 1 in the Chico City Council Chamber building at 421 Main Street. The proposed plans modify the exterior of the upper floors (second through fourth floors) of the existing patient tower so the design complements that of the patient tower currently being built. An agenda will be posted on the City of Chico website at http://www.chico.ca.us. Click on the Meetings & Events link, and then on Jan. 21 on the calendar.

If you enjoy observing construction progress but do not get around to the medical center often, we invite you to look at our slide shows, which are tracking the expansion. You can see photographs of the Enloe Parking Structure construction from start to finish, and watch the patient tower as it rises. Just visit www.enloe.org/century.

The storm drainage improvements in front of Enloe Medical Center, within the new portion of Magnolia Avenue between 5th and 6th Avenues, are complete. Enloe Medical Center cooperated with the City of Chico in its efforts to install a portion of the Magnolia Avenue storm drain. The ends of the drain have been temporarily capped in anticipation of future work for the next construction season. Installing this portion of the drain now avoids cutting into the new road later. Street construction in the immediate vicinity of the medical center’s expansion is done for the winter season. This work is set to continue where it left in the spring.

The structural concrete phase for the patient tower was completed in October and now steel work can begin. The new patient tower will be a reinforced-concrete and steel structure. The first three stories are made of reinforced concrete, and the fourth and fifth stories will be structural steel. The steel is expected to arrive by the end of November. Original construction scheduling called for the work to begin earlier in November, however steel fabrication took longer than expected. The steel work will include the beam that more than 200 people signed with their names and personal messages – and sometimes small images – at our Beam Signing Celebration.