ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Carilion Clinic said it expects its massive project at Tanglewood Mall to be complete by August and to be open to patients by October. Nearly 80,000 square feet of space is transforming to an all-in-one pediatrics center in the form of the former home of JC Penny’s.
The windows are still boarded up outside, but behind the walls are crews hard at work on the new facility. Dr. Donald Kees is the interim chair of pediatrics for Carilion and said things are shaping up.
“It’s all framed in and they’re putting the drywall on, the plumbing and the electric,” Dr. Kees said. “It’s a dream, I’ve been with Carilion since 1991, probably since the mid 90′s we’ve wanted a consolidated clinic space and we’re finally going to get it.”
On Tuesday, Carilion released new renderings of what the inside will look like. It’s also a dream for an economic development director such as the one in Roanoke County. Jill Loope said the project will drive traffic and is a critical cornerstone to the corridor’s revitalization.
“Carilion Children’s is serving as a catalyst for development,” Loope said. “(Patients and families will be) coming from a 60-mile radius, so this is up to 1,300 vehicle trips per day that are coming to the mall now.”
Carilion on-time completion is good news to Loope and other county leaders who have celebrated other recent milestones at Tanglewood. Just a few weeks prior, the county announced the mall would build a new building in the parking lot closest to 419 to house Chipotle, Jersey Mikes, Blaze Pizza, Panda Express and Aspen Dental. Loope told 10 News then those projects were a direct result of Carilion’s project.
Construction is underway on the new building in addition to that inside the former JC Penny’s. And Loope said there’s more coming.
“More exciting even than some of that are the other things that are going on behind the scenes, and other businesses that have yet to be announced,” Loope said.
Work on the projects continues, and for all involved it the finish line can’t come soon enough.
“It’s a big step I think for not only the pediatrics section of Carilion, but really for the people we serve,” Dr. Kees said.
Roanoke County is set to host a virtual forum on Tanglewood Mall on Thursday at noon. Representatives from both Carilion and the mall’s ownership will be available to take the public’s questions. You can find more information at Roanoke County’s website.