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.

We are ready for another celebration to mark a major milestone for the Century Project expansion! A Beam Signing special event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to noon at Enloe’s Magnolia House parking lot, 1625 Magnolia Ave (at the corner of Sixth Avenue). The event will take place under a tent cover. A steel beam will be displayed for attendees to sign and will ultimately be part of the new patient tower. Enloe will recognize key contributors to 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. This special event will also unveil Enloe’s first public art panels project, which will be in place just across the street at Enloe’s new parking structure.

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.