Doctors group trying to sell controversial part of medical mall plan

Linn County Supervisors may soon get involved in the medical mall issue in Cedar Rapids. That's because mall proponents are trying to line up support from different groups for one controversial part of that $40-million dollar project.

Physicians' Clinic of Iowa proposed a campus of medical buildings last year along 10th Street S.E. and city and business leaders hailed the idea as the first step in creating a new medical district near the downtown area. But the idea of closing a part of 2nd Avenue S.E. to allow construction of buildings and parking for a medical “campus” kicked up lots of controversy. And that's the part of the plan supporters are now trying to sell.

Mike Sundall, CEO of Physicians' Clinic of Iowa, said closing 2nd Avenue between 10th and 12th Streets S.E. will allow the doctors group to construct larger buildings and have space for future growth and public access. Sundall made that pitch to the Linn County Board of Supervisors Wednesday morning. PCI officials plan to make the rounds of civic and government groups over the next weeks and months looking for support for the medical mall plan that includes vacating that portion of 2nd Avenue.

Sundall said “we know there'll be pro and con for any type of change of this magnitude. We just think it's important to fit into the philosophy of the medical district.”

Sundall says the decision about closing 2nd Avenue should come to a head in early August with a public hearing before the Cedar Rapids City Council. The doctors group should know then if the campus idea as planned now is feasible. Organizers are actually trying to soften the idea of a dead end for traffic by describing the plan as a “partial closing” and saying the creation of a bypass for 2nd Avenue traffic around the medical complex could ease some of the concerns. Part of the solution might also be making 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue two way streets instead of one way.

A transportation study by the city to look at that radical traffic change is just getting started.

Linn County Supervisors did not take a position on the street closing or need for tax credits for the project yet. But Supervisor Brent Oelson said he would sign a letter of support for both ideas. Oleson said a visionary project like the medical district might require some sacrifice-but he noted that residents aren't always eager to take big chances. “This community, they love progress-but they hate change. And PCI could go somewhere else,” Oleson said.

Sundall said the owners of PCI don't know yet what they'll do if the street closing request isn't approved. But he said PCI needs a decision by August to meet the timetable for a 2011 start to construction somewhere.