Large expansion project begins May 12; Hospital has parking solutions for patients + visitors
"When one door closes, another opens…,” Alexander Graham Bell eloquently stated. His quote continues, “…but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
On Friday, May 12, Chester County Hospital will close its front door that guests have used since 1986. Patients and visitors will not need to look upon the closed door “so long and so regretfully” because the administration is already welcoming guests through its historic front entrance, which dates back to 1925 when the building first opened.
The entrance changes and recent parking lot improvements have been necessary first steps for the hospital to begin construction on a 276,000-square-foot expansion and renovation project this month. The construction footprint for the new addition will be positioned in the current visitors’ lot for several years.
"This construction project is the largest ever for the hospital and propels it into the vanguard of 21st century health care," says Louis A. Meilink, Jr., Principal at Ballinger. "Drawing on Chester County Hospital’s past to plan for its future, the new surgical platform and bed tower will be a transformational experience, inspired by the classic Tuscan heritage of the site that Mr. Pierre S. du Pont championed for the original building back in the 1920s, and the recent work at Lasko Tower, completed in 2012."
In November 2016, the hospital opened a 700-space parking garage to accommodate all the cars for the patients and guests during the expansion project. Over the last few months, the hospital has also renovated its historic entrance, added more parking spaces for its Emergency Department, and created a busing plan to shuttle guests from the garage to the new lobby.
Updated signage along East Marshall Street now directs visitors where to find the free valet* and patient drop-off areas, as well as the Emergency Department entrance and the self-parking driveway, where guests can park for free in any space in or around the garage.
*Please Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, we will be temporarily suspending valet parking services until further notice.