Hospital staff happy with rising structure

Swank Enterprises construction crew raised a signature beam Thursday in a toast to the new North Valley Hospital rising from a muddy construction site at the edge of Whitefish.

It was the beam offered up for signatures at the hospitals ceremonial launching in May.

We had about 3,000 people at the groundbreaking, Carol Blake said. They had such a good time that day signing.

Blake, executive director of the hospitals foundation, wasnt certain where the beam would be used in the hospital. She organized the event to celebrate the raising of the hospitals steel skeleton, which was 25 percent complete as of Thursday.

Jeff Halsey, Swanks superintendent for the job, said the crew began erecting the steel about 10 days ago.

Weve been doing concrete for two months, he said.

Towering beams on the north side foreshadow the impressive entry canopy to the successor of North Valley Hospitals three-decades-old building in downtown Whitefish.

At U.S. 93 and Montana 40, the $30-million facility occupies 82,000 square feet of the 45-acre medical campus. The building exterior will reflect the Whitefish alpine theme with stone, big timbers and plank siding.

It will look real Montana-ish, Halsey said. I dont think youll realize its a hospital.

The superintendent said between 40 and 50 people are working on erecting the steel. At the peak of construction, the hospital project will employ about 120 craftspeople.

With the building boom in the valley, Halsey said finding workers has been challenging. He invites carpenters looking for employment to come by the job site.

Also, Hurricane Katrina has affected the price and availability of materials. However, the project remains on schedule, with a target completion date of February 2007.

Halsey joked that he and the Swank superintendent for the new Glacier High School project keep a close eye on each others projects.

We have a little competition going on who gets their steel up first, he said with a laugh.

Framing with steel studs comes after the structural-steel phase of the project. With its concrete and steel anatomy, the hospital meets a standard exceeding most other types of construction.

If the big one hits, youll be safe in the hospital, Halsey said.

Even with just 25 percent of the building complete, Blake could point out the main corridor, which takes off from the entry. A vaulted area just behind the entry will sport skylights to bathe the interior with natural light.

She said a gift shop, chapel and small waiting rooms will be off the main corridor. To the west, steel beams wait to support the canopy marking the entry to the new emergency room.

Blake said the south entry, facing Montana 40, provides access to the new obstetrics and day-surgery areas.

So you dont have to come through the hospital, she said. The design is also so smart from the stand point of growth.

Major areas, such as patient rooms, emergency services, surgery and obstetrics, were placed to allow additions if todays explosive growth in the valley outstrips the capacity of the hospital.

The financial side of the building endeavor has kept pace with the construction progress, Blake said. The turbulent financing phase with a Housing and Urban Development loan guarantee concludes soon.

We locked in an interest rate, and we close the loan on Dec. 19th in Denver, Blake said.

She said the interest rate was below budget. The foundations fund-raising effort has topped $3.4 million, or 54 percent of the $6.3 million goal.

Blake said she was pleased with the progress at raising dollars to lower the debt burden on the new facility.

Were getting gifts in every day, she said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.