DATE: Tuesday, April 1, 1997                TAG: 9704010232

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   55 lines

NEW BUILDING WILL BE ONE OF MANY CHANGES ALONG WATERFRONT

A new hospital building is just one of myriad changes coming to the 107-acre naval medical campus on Portsmouth's Elizabeth River waterfront.

A 2,400-space parking garage was the first major component to appear, and another 1,000 spaces were added two years ago. The Navy buried most utility lines, expanded a historical ``energy building'' housing the base's power and heat plants, and razed dozens of houses, utility sheds and office buildings, some erected as ``temporary'' during World War II.

But some of the most significant work on the project, which began in 1990, has yet to be done: renovating the older parts of the medical center for new roles.

The most historic spot on the base, the original 1830 hospital known as Building 1, will get a $13 million renovation and will serve as the executive office building and medical library.

The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks and considered the nation's oldest continuously operating hospital, houses the psychiatric wards and obstetrics and gynecology service. As soon as staffs from those departments move into the new building, restoration will begin.

Although the new hospital building and most other pieces of the makeover are fully funded and moving on schedule, completion of the project hinges on the appropriation of another $34 million, which would be used to renovate parts of Building 215, a 500,000-square-foot high-rise opened in 1960.

The money was moved last year from the 1998 federal budget to 1999's, and now the hospital staff is meeting with General Accounting Office representatives to justify the expenditure.

The 17-story building, which cost $15 million to build, was considered the tallest in the region when it was built. When remodeled, the building will house many of the base's support services, making it a keystone in the project.

``There's no administrative support in the new building,'' said Cmdr. Ray Swisher of the Navy Medical Service Corps. ``We need Building 215. It's been part of the plan from the beginning.''

Bridges constructed as part of the new hospital are already in place to connect the two buildings. The new structure, as well as the entire site renovation, was designed with Building 215 as an integral part of the medical center.

But until the remainder of the money is appropriated, the links are known as bridges to nowhere.

Also slated to occupy space in the high-rise are clinics that didn't exist when the new hospital was designed almost 10 years ago. Among the new disciplines are physical medicine, a relative of sports medicine, and the Exceptional Family Member Program, which works with military dependents who require extraordinary medical attention.

A plan to use the top floors of the tall building for housing enlisted personnel was scrubbed when it became evident that the lower floors would be used for patient care and hospital administration. Instead, new barracks buildings have been constructed on the north side of the hospital grounds.

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