Medical complex gains support

MAYOR'S RESPONSE

Release from Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones

Medical complex in Shockoe Bottom? Some members of City Council think it's a good idea, but Mayor Dwight Jones wants to see the details.

Some members of the Richmond City Council are putting their support behind a proposal to build a specialized medical complex in Shockoe Bottom.

They are drafting a resolution to be presented as early as next month to Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the City Council seeking to establish the Shockoe Bottom Medical Complex Exploratory Commission, which would study the feasibility of creating a medical, research, education and hospital complex.

Last month, when council members expressed their interest in the proposed medical complex, they wanted a formal study to be backed by Jones. In a statement released yesterday, Jones said development opportunities are endless for Shockoe Bottom.

"The proposed medical complex is one of many ideas that I anticipate the city will receive for Shockoe Bottom because of the vast potential for this gateway area," he said. "At this time, we have not received any specifics about the medical complex idea. We look forward to receiving the details that can be considered as we continue to grow by design and not by default."

Council members yesterday spoke enthusiastically about the benefits of a specialized medical complex during a news conference at City Hall.

"This is a healthy, smart addition, to put clinics down there that could . . . begin to rival some of the other major clinics throughout the country," said Councilman E. Martin Jewell.

Joining Jewell as patrons of the resolution were Council members Douglas G. Conner Jr., Chris A. Hilbert, Reva Trammell and Bruce W. Tyler.

Conner said there should be no additional funding needed for this study. He said more than $100,000 already is set aside to study the feasibility of development in Shockoe Bottom. "We want this to be a part of that study," Conner said.

Jones said the study "should be flexible enough to accommodate the consideration of a medical complex . . . to streamline our efforts."

The idea of a medical complex in Shockoe Bottom has been pitched by Paul Goldman, a former candidate for the City Council and mayor and a policy adviser to then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder. Last month, Del. G. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, sent a letter to Jones and the City Council requesting that a commission be appointed to study the idea.

According to the resolution, the exploratory commission will include 21 members, which will be appointed by the City Council and Jones. It said one of Jones' appointees should be knowledgeable of the history of Shockoe Bottom. The members will serve without compensation.

The committee's findings will be submitted to the City Council and Jones by Dec. 15.

Jewell said the building blocks already are in place for such a complex, with VCU Medical Center and the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park located in downtown Richmond.

Goldman said he envisions the medical complex on the same land in Shockoe Bottom that was being considered for a baseball stadium, between Broad Street and Main Street Station. He sees it extending north beyond Broad Street that incorporates the history of the Bottom.

He said the medical complex wouldn't compete with local hospitals, but would be one that would rival top clinics across the country, like the Mayo Clinic or the Cleveland Clinic, the country's leader in heart care. Goldman added that a medical complex in Shockoe Bottom would work in conjunction with VCU Medical Center, enhancing Virginia Commonwealth University's medical school but not duplicating its efforts.

"Everybody has to work together," Goldman said.

"It will be a tremendous revitalization for the whole East End of Richmond," he added. "You just have to have the guts to say, 'Richmond can do it.' I think Richmond's had an inferiority complex too long. . . . This is a chance for us to say, 'We've got the best possibility here in Virginia to build this. Let's seize the moment.'"

Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or jslayton@timesdispatch.com.