Summa Health broke ground Monday on its new West Tower during a ceremony on the Akron City Hospital campus.
The event marked the first step in the $270 million Phase I of Summa’s facility plan, announced last year. Summa Health plans to invest up to $350 million throughout all phases of the project over the next six to seven years.
When the new West Tower is complete in spring 2019, the six-story building will feature private patient rooms; expanded surgery suites and patient prep and recovery room; two floors dedicated to women’s health; a breast center; a multipurpose conference center; a large covered canopy area for drop-off with dedicated valet services; and a bridge to the adjoining Adolph Street parking garage.
The building will serve as the primary entrance to Summa’s City Hospital campus, which is now off Arch Street. It was designed by Hasenstab Architects and Perspectus Architecture.
The exterior front of the new tower will be a modern style, featuring mainly glass and textured gray metal panels. The back of the facility will blend the hospital’s past with the future, using some terra cotta brick that is seen on many of the existing older buildings on Summa’s Akron campus.