Georgetown Community Hospital held its second groundbreaking in less than a month, and those in attendance received a surprise announcement that a fourth grocery store is coming to town.
Parkview Medical Plaza will anchor roughly a 20-acre campus that will eventually include restaurants, banks and other businesses, including the Germany-based grocery store Aldi, said C.J. May, developer. The hospital will lease about 30,000 sq. ft. of the 45,000 sq. ft. building for badly needed space for doctors and hospital services, said Cliff Wilson, hospital CEO.
Adjacent to the medical office building will be a 24,000 sq. ft. Aldi grocery store. The Parkview Medical Plaza campus will include all the property between Lusby Path and the bypass and across from the hospital. Tenants on this property have included attorney Carolyn Carroway, Sunshine Grow Shop, Pat Juett, Shed Squad and property that was once owned by the Bevins and Giles families.
“We got in just under the wire for sewer service,” May joked with the crowd. Georgetown Municipal Water and Sewer Service is building a new waste water plant as the community’s growth has strained its sewer capacity, forcing the city to set priorities for construction projects until the plant is completed. Construction on both Parkview Medical Plaza and Aldi are expected to be completed by September 2023, May said.
“This project will be transformative for the city,” said Mayor Tom Prather who also serves as chairman of the hospital’s board of directors. “This is one of the most significant groundbreakings we have had, here, in the City of Georgetown. The first reason why this is incredibly important is where we are. If you look around us this particular place is a key entrance to our city. It’s one of the most importance entrances that we have, that is today a hodge podge of different buildings with different uses with different entrances and exits that are not particularly safe.
“We are going to have the opportunity, here, to take all these opportunities and turn them into one in an effort that I believe is transformative for Georgetown and our community. The what we are here for today, is what I believe is so important. What we are breaking ground for is absolutely vital for our community. Georgetown Community Hospital is a critical community institution for us. Their line is ‘Making Communities Healthier.’ That’s what today is about too — making Georgetown and Scott County healthier. As we add services, as we add better facilities for physicians to practice and better places for patients to be seen. And the when is right now. This is so needed.”
The Parkview Medical Plaza will be three stories and will include among others offices for Central Kentucky Interventional Pain, Georgetown Family Physicians, and a new Express Care/Urgent Care, Wilson said.
GCH Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist Dr. Leslie Asbury detailed the need for more space.
“As we all know Georgetown and Scott County is one of the fastest growing communities in our state,” she said. “So along with that change comes the need for growth. And for us especially that is space. This facility will enable our health care center to grow and keep pace with our population and the needs of our community. Just on a personal level, in my current office I have one medical assistant who sits in our break room and I have another medical assistant who sits in the exam room. Both of those spaces could be utilized in a much better and orderly fashion.
“And I’m certainly not the only physician with these growing pains. There are many who could give examples of very creative office layouts currently. This new space will enable us to see more patients efficiently, expand our services and very importantly provide our staff with more comfortable work spaces.”
May started work on the project about eight years ago, acquiring property with a vision to build a state-of-the art office complex with five parcels set aside for restaurants, banks and other businesses. Prather praised May for his patience and vision and noted repeatedly how the campus would be an attractive entrance to the city.
“I have found that if you don’t push things, but allow projects to grow naturally, they have a better chance for success,” said the developer. The five parcels will likely have to wait until 2025 when sewer capacity is available, but work on Parkview Medical Plaza and Aldi will begin immediately with opening tentative for both set for September 2023, he said.
On Sept. 7, GCH unveiled a $7.9 million radiation oncology center behind the hospital, near the ER.
