The city and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
broke ground Thursday on the Community Health and Literacy Center, which will
bring adult and pediatric care, a recreation center, and a library together in
a single South Philadelphia location.
Smaller, separate versions of the city's Health Center
No. 2, the Free Library's South Philadelphia Neighborhood Library, and the
DiSilvestro Recreation Center were on the block bounded by South Broad, Morris,
and 15th Streets and Castle Avenue; they will be knocked down and incorporated
into the new building.
It will also house Children's Hospital's South
Philadelphia primary care facility, now three blocks away. The idea for the
combined center originated with the pediatric facility's desire for a new space
and the city clinic's need for millions of dollars in renovations.
The city will lease the 1.6-acre site for a nominal fee.
Construction of the 96,000-square-foot building and outside recreation area
will cost $42.5 million, mostly borne by the hospital, with $2.2 million from
the city. Several city and library officials said that, to their knowledge, the
new center would be the first of its kind. In his remarks at the event, Mayor
Nutter called it a model for public and private collaboration.
Children's chief executive Steven Altschuler said
offering a library and recreation programs with health care could help improve
health in the community and address problems such as obesity and poverty.
The library, to be on the center's first floor, will offer
some digital media as well as health information, said Susan Kretsge, deputy
mayor for health and opportunity. The library will hire at least one staff
member with a health-care speciality and will offer joint services with the
recreation and health centers.
The library will lend laptops within the building with
the goal of eventually lending laptops and tablets to community members to take
home like library books, said Sandra Horrocks, vice president of external
affairs for the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation. The center is slated
for completion in December 2015.
Source: Philly.com
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