VA Selects Clark For $72 Million Syracuse VA Medical Center Project

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded Clark Construction Group a $72 million contract for the Syracuse VA Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury/Disease (SCI/D) Center Addition in Syracuse, N.Y. The project will add more than 160,000 square feet to the medical center while extensive renovations will be made to existing facilities. 

The project consists of three major phases of work: site preparation and enabling, new facility construction, and renovations to existing medical spaces.  

The largest component of the project is the construction of a new, six-story, 30-bed, 140,000 square-foot tower, which will replace an existing structure onsite and provide operating rooms and space for spinal cord injury treatment. The cast-in-place concrete tower's exterior will feature a red-orange brick façade, matching the existing site architecture, as well as glass and glazing elements and custom metal panels. A roof terrace will sit on top of the tower, surrounded by an ornamental glass railing system and covered by a decorative metal panel canopy. 

Adjoining the tower, Clark will construct a three-story, 20,000 square-foot structure to house the SCI therapeutic pool area. Though the pool building has a precast concrete frame and will be erected separately from the tower, it will be attached to the tower and link to an existing parking garage. Each floor of this new building will tie into the existing medical center at key break-through points, allowing staff easy access to the new SCI/D Center. 

In addition to the new construction, Clark will perform over 40,000 square feet of renovations on multiple floors of the existing hospital to remove asbestos and reconfigure the space for inpatient and outpatient SCI functions. The renovations will occur adjacent to an active inpatient/outpatient surgical hospital, but will not inhibit day-to-day operations.  

The site preparation and enabling phase primarily involves the abatement and demolition of two existing buildings.  Earthwork and site utility operations will follow the demolition, including sequencing and coordinating between existing utilities and new services. Additional sitework includes roadway improvements, adding new walkways, and installing site lighting.

Construction of the Syracuse VA Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Center Addition began in November, with completion expected in June 2012.