The look of Commonwealth Health Corp.’s proposed new building for WKU’s school of nursing should help spur development along that end of U.S. 31-W By-pass.
That was the opinion Thursday’s of the design review committee for the Tax Increment Financing District.
CHC’s new building will have a curved wall of windows facing the bypass to take in the northern sun exposure and the curve would mimic that of the bypass, according to architect Paul W. Edwards of Stengel-Hill Architecture in Louisville.
Commonwealth Health, the parent of The Medical Center, will own the building and will enter into a long-term lease with Western Kentucky University for about 80 percent of the building for classrooms, labs and office space. As for the 20 percent that The Medical Center will use, CHC Executive Vice President Jean Cherry said it will be used for training and meetings, some of which are spread across The Medical Center campus now.
The three-story, 77,163-square-foot building will use a combination of masonry, stone, aluminum and glass to complement the other buildings on the multiblock campus of The Medical Center.
Edwards said the building tries to incorporate as much light in the major public spaces such as break rooms and the lobby as possible, as well as lighting the ends of the hallways that lead to classrooms and offices.
On one side of the exterior, there is a pull-off spot for buses for the future possibility of public transit to the building.
Committee member Neal E. Downing, an associate professor of architecture at WKU, said he knows the university will be capable of expanding transit to the building with the recent purchase of three additional buses.
The project as a whole has the campus buzzing, Downing said.
Downing said historically that this end of the bypass had not been very aesthetically pleasing. The TIF ends on The Medical Center side of the bypass, but perhaps its appearance will encourage development on the other side, he said.
Over the years CHC has developed its side of the bypass piecemeal as it could purchase dilapidated properties and tear them down, according to Cherry.
“This gives us a chance to dress it up (further) and put a beautiful facade on the campus, rather than looking at the back of a building,” Cherry said. “I think that this certainly would encourage development on the other side of the street.”
Edwards said the building also will have a green belt on the bypass side, incorporating many of the same plants that already are used throughout The Medical Center campus.
The design review committee was pleased with the plan, only making two minor suggestions.
Member Elinor Markle suggested that the architect consider removing a few parking spots adjacent to the building and instead extend the greenspace to the building’s entrance.
Markle said it would better connect the building to the outdoors.
Member Eileen Starr suggested some sort of architectural element be added to a blank brick wall that people will see as they exit buses.
Cherry said they would try to incorporate the suggestions.
The City-County Planning Commission of Warren County also on Thursday approved the detailed development plan for the nearly four acres needed for the project. The commission also approved a variance of the required property line setback for construction.
The review committee also heard some preliminary plans for Block 7 in the TIF where the new Dollar General Store will be located.
“This is a very challenging site,” local landscape architect Brian Shirley told the committee.
The site is bounded by Seventh and Sixth avenues and Center Street.
In addition to being triangular shaped, it has multiple utilities that can’t be moved without great expense – about $150,000, he said.
Shirley and architects Nick and Matt Sewell gave the committee some preliminary drawings for the site that will be developed in two phases. The first is a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General. The second would be a two-story 6,000-square-foot building that doesn’t yet have a tenant.
Starr asked why there are two separate buildings.
Shirley said that is pretty much being dictated by Dollar General. The building is pushing the boundaries of what most Dollar General’s look like. It has a two-story appearance that is much dressier than most, primarily because of design standards within the TIF.
Downing and other members on the committee said the plan as it stands doesn’t really follow the standards set out for that block that is a gateway into the TIF. It should engage pedestrian traffic in the area as well as signal the entrance into the TIF.
“You are headed in the right direction,” Downing said.
But the plan has a ways to go before it will pass muster.
Shirley said they already were on revision 24 to the plan but will make further changes.
