You can now see where the new main and surgery entries will be, as the forms for the entry canopies are in place on Magnolia Avenue. In this illustration, they are the first two canopies from the left. Two additional canopies will be added later for the Emergency Department and Ambulance entrances (in above illustration, see two at right, behind the trees), making a total of four. Patients and visitors will drive under three of these one-story roofed structures to access the hospital lobbies.

An additional crane has been introduced to the construction site for the steel work required for this project. The number of cranes on a job site is based on the number of items to be picked up.

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 made of structural steel. Cement is poured every eight days. By the end of September, we will be one pour away from completing the building’s structural concrete. Remaining concrete work will be light. Steel work for the 4th floor and 5th floors will begin immediately after the structural concrete jobs.

Enloe launched a public art project for the Parking Structure, and sixteen local artists submitted their proposals. A panel of nine judges from the arts community and Enloe selected nine artists from the submissions. The artists will be announced shortly and begin creating their pieces. The art will be placed in arched alcoves along Magnolia Avenue. The first round will be displayed from October 2008 through April 2009, and then be auctioned off at a Planetree gala, with half of the proceeds going to the individual artists and half to Enloe’s Planetree fund. We envision three rounds of selections over the years. Ultimately Enloe will purchase nine permanent pieces.

We are ready for another celebration to mark a major milestone for the Century Project expansion! Please save Wednesday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. for our beam signing special event to celebrate the topping off of the new patient tower. A steel beam will be displayed for attendees to sign and will ultimately be part of the new tower. We will recognize key contributors of the Century Project and kick off the Enloe Foundation’s New Beginning Campaign, which aims to raise $15 million for the Century Project, Planetree and scholarships. The next issue of this newsletter will have further details.

After 12 months of construction, our parking structure is now in use. The Mediterranean-style building provides 742 parking spaces for physicians, employees and volunteers. We expect this will help to better contain much of the medical center traffic and parking. Thank you to those who joined us at our Tailgate Party on Aug. 28. We hope you enjoyed the ribbon cutting ceremony, including a welcome from CEO Deborah Yancer, vintage cars, Dr. N.T. Enloe’srestored buggy, photo slide show of construction, music, food and other activities. Landscaping is being completed and the elevator is expected to be installed by Oct. 15.