NHRMC continues with $18 million project

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  A pedestrian bridge connecting a new employee parking deck to the main campus of new Hanover Regional Medical Center is now in place.

South 17th street was closed Saturday night while a $18-million pedestrian skywalk was being set in place.

A project that has been in the works for quite some time.

“As you know the hospital has a lot of expansion going on and part of the expansion ya know we have to provide places for everyone to to park here, so we have this new parking deck that’s almost 800 parking spaces,” President of McKinley Building Corporation, Ken Dull said.

The new skywalk is going to not only be a safety feature, but a way for more patients and visitors to park on campus.

“We want to move as many employees to park off campus as possible, so there’s more space for visitors and patients to park on campus also after the parking garage is open we will begin working on the back of the hospital more to open up the orthopedic hospital,” director of marketing and public relations Carolyn Fisher said.

Once the parking garage and skywalk are ready to be used it will be the second pedestrian overpass in Wilmington.

“The more we see population increase the more we have to take precautions,” the lead architect, Bruce Bowman said.

Fisher said this is going to be a great addition because of the constant and heavy traffic flow near the hospital.

The hospital reports that the bridge will be able to withstand hurricane force winds.

It’s a part of the work they are doing on a new orthopedic hospital set to be complete in 2019.