The province has announced it will fund new construction on the Halifax Infirmary site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre as part of the QEll New Generation project.
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Lloyd Hines announced Thursday that the government has approved $29.5 million in funding for the QEII’s parking strategy, which includes building a new parkade across from the hospital on Summer Street.
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The Robie Street parkade will also be demolished to make space for a new inpatient centre, with hospital beds and operating rooms, to be built as part of the hospital’s expansion.
“This is a significant step in preparing the hospital site for construction of modern, state-of-the-art health-care facilities,” said Hines.
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“At the same time, we appreciate how important parking is to anyone working at or visiting the hospital. By addressing it now, we can ensure minimal disruption as we continue with the redevelopment.”
According to the government, the current parkade at the Halifax Infirmary was built in 2003 and has 672 parking spaces.
The new parkade will have up to 900 parking spaces and sit on the current site of a parking lot for the Museum of Natural History. As a result of the new construction, a temporary parking lot will also be built on the other side of the museum to replace the spaces lost.
“The location of this new parking development will allow convenient and safe access for patients, families and staff visiting the Halifax Infirmary during the construction of the Halifax Infirmary expansion,” said Dr. Alex Mitchell, acting vice-president of clinical infrastructure with the QEII New Generation project.
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According to the QEll, New Generation is a massive, multi-year project that lays out how the hospital will meet the health-care needs of Nova Scotians for the next 50 years. The project will also see services moved out of the aging Centennial, Victoria and Dickson buildings on the Victoria General (VG) site of the QEII to prepare for their eventual closure.
The province says a tender for the design of the temporary lot will be issued early next week.
Along with the new parkade and temporary parking lot, the $29.5-million investment includes planning for further expansion of parking at the Halifax Infirmary site. Once the hospital expansion is finished, there will be about 2,700 parking spaces at the site — 1,400 more than there are now.
Construction of the temporary parking lot will be finished in late December, and the tender for the new Halifax Infirmary parkade will be issued in early January, according to province.
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