Erland Construction, Inc. was recently awarded the renovations to the future location of the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center at 354 Waverly St. Teaming with Steffian Bradley Architects, construction will begin next month. Plans are to renovate the existing office building at the location into 8,000 s/f of clinical space, which will nearly double the center's current capacity. The new health center site is expected to open in early 2012.
Erland will construct an addition to the office building at 354 Waverly St. that will feature a new lobby and elevator. The entire first floor will be renovated, along with a portion of the third floor. The second and third floors are currently occupied by other businesses that will remain in operation throughout the building's renovations.
The major challenge on this project will be the installation of a new elevator. The existing elevator lobby must be demolished. Because handicapped access must remain constant throughout the project, Erland will build a temporary enclosed wheelchair lift to enable handicapped access to the second and third floors throughout construction of the new elevator.
When completed, the new location will feature examination rooms, patient rooms, a laboratory, private offices for patient consultations and staff conference rooms. New sprinklers will be installed throughout the building, which will be completed after-hours in occupied areas to ensure minimal disruption to current tenants.
The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center presently operates out of three separate locations: 19 Concord St. and 72 Union Ave., with a dental office at 32 Concord St. Those locations will continue operations while construction takes place at the future site. Once the renovations are finished, the new site will house all of the center's medical services, while the dental office will remain at its current downtown location.