Physicians group will formally ask city next week to close part of Second Ave SE

Physicians' Clinic of Iowa will submit a formal letter to City Hall next week to ask the City Council to vacate Second Avenue SE between 10th and 12th streets SE, Mike Sundall, PCI's chief executive officer, said on Wednesday.

The physicians group plans to build a $36-million medical “mall” and an $8-million parking ramp along 10th Street SE, and Sundall said that closing the stretch of Second Avenue SE will allow the group to build a bigger building to allow for future growth and for better patient access.

However, Sundall said that it would not be deal breaker if the city declined to close the street for the project.

“I wouldn't go as far as saying that,” Sundall said. “Because we really think that it's important for PCI to be part of the Medical District. Our doctors are very excited about being part of redevelopment of the Cedar Rapids downtown area. Maybe there's an option out there up on that Second, Third, Fourth Avenue site that we haven't thunk of yet.

“I wouldn't say it's a deal killer. No. I think, if the City Council decided against closing Second Avenue, I don't think we'd take our ball and go home. I think we'd regroup and review what other options we have.

“At some point in time you're either going to be able to find a suitable option (in the Medical District near downtown) or we'll have to look at other options (elsewhere). But I don't see it as a deal-killer at this point.”

The City Council sees the PCI project as a linchpin for the city's newly created Medical District between the two hospitals, and two weeks ago, the council signaled its support for PCI's request to close the two-block segment of busy Second Avenue SE.

Some council members, though, have had second thoughts as residents have voiced their objections to the avenue-closure idea. Council member Monica Vernon is one of those.

Vernon now says she's not “unequivocally opposed” to closing Second Avenue SE, but she says her comments at the council meeting two weeks ago were “more positive than they probably should have been.”

In recent days, Vernon and council member Tom Podzimek have pointed to a comment by council member Kris Gulick, who noted at the council meeting two weeks ago that respected city consultant JLG Architects of Grand Forks, N.D. has cautioned against closing streets. They want to know more about costs and traffic ramifications of closing the street.

“To say that's the only way they (PCI) can make that big investment work is to have Second Avenue is beyond me,” Vernon said in recent days. “They're going to walk away if we don't give them Second Avenue?”

Mayor Ron Corbett and council member Chuck Swore are two council members who support the PCI plan to close the street.

Sundall said PCI has looked at some eight different options in the Medical District area, including one that would keep Second Avenue open and have it tunnel between the PCI building on both sides of the street.

The physicians group, he said, is eager to present its plans in public in more complete detail in the weeks ahead.

Construction on the PCI project has been slated to begin in 2011.