MedQuarter transformation continues in Cedar Rapids

Health and business leaders are moving ahead with plans to transform a 55-block area of Cedar Rapids just above downtown that encompasses Mercy Medical Center, Physicians' Clinic of Iowa and UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital from a place filled with concrete and parking lots into one that promotes wellness through green space and public art.

And the final plan for the district, known as the MedQuarter, will help them do just that.

The goal of the medical district is to enhance the delivery of care, elevate the patient experience and promote economic development, leaders said. It eventually will include wider sidewalks, pedestrian friendly streets and pocket parks.

Leaders also envision an extended-stay hotel to eventually become part of the landscape as well as additional restaurants, retail and event space.

'We want this to become more of a destination,” said John Albert, the chairman of the development plan steering committee and president of Citywide Cleaners. 'Quality health care has its place …

and we want to make this a convenient, healing place for patients and visitors.”

The idea is for the MedQuarter to take a 'holistic approach,” at health, healing body, mind and soul, said Dr. Julianne Thomas, a pediatrician who works in the district and a medical Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District (SSMID) commission member.

The final plan, released at the end of June, marks the end of the planning stage and the beginning of the doing stage. The medical district was first dreamed up several years ago.

The City Council approved the SSMID in 2011, and Mayor Ron Corbett appointed a commission in January 2012. The group hired Lakota Group, a Chicago-based urban planning and design company, in April 2013 to oversee the planning process.

MedQuarter stakeholders then held a series of open houses with the public to receive feedback on the plan throughout 2013 and the first half of 2014.

The final plan focuses on street enhancements and branding initiatives as well as pinpoints streets and areas for greenways.

Street improvements

A main aspect of the plan is street improvement, including creating open space, adding landscaping and outlining design standards, with a handful of streets on which the committee will focus more of their attention.

Tenth Street NE will become the 'medical spine,” as it connects St. Luke's Hospital, PCI and Mercy Medical Center. It also will serve as a central location for future outpatient clinics, insurance companies, wellness centers and other medical office uses.

Second, Third and Fourth avenues SE have been designated as greenway zones, which leaders hope will soon include bike trails and pocket parks. Officials also see cafes, small shops and other quiet areas developing here.

Because of the prominence of these four streets, the committee plans to add more lighting, MedQuarter signs to direct visitors and landscaping. Sidewalks will be widened, and decorative concrete put down to improve appearance.

Meanwhile, First Avenue East will serve as the 'retail spine,” Albert said.

It will be the space for future restaurants and retail for hospital staff, patients and visitors.

Because Tenth Street and Eighth Avenue SE connect the medical district with the downtown and carry a high amount of traffic, the plan suggests adding directional kiosks and signs, lighting, bike lanes and wider sidewalks.

MedQuarter leaders will have to work with the city of Cedar Rapids to accomplish some of their goals, Albert said, pointing for example to the city's Paving for Progress initiative, which is working to improve city streets.

They'd also like to work with the city to route trucks off 10th Street SE to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

Development

Another main goal of the MedQuarter is to spur economic development, including new restaurants, shops and offices. It also could bring about additional residential development, which could attract and retain employees, and even senior care retirement communities.

One thing Albert and Thomas said is crucial to the district is an extended-stay hotel for patients' their families. This hotel would have a different feel than the DoubleTree by Hilton downtown, they said.

There are several locations where they believe a hotel would make sense, including east of the PCI building, so families of Coe College students could also use it, or on the corner of First Avenue East and Sixth Street SE.

However, the committee only can 'set the stage and target developers,” Thomas said, so the end location could change.

Parks are another area for potential development, Thomas said, pointing to an empty corner on Mercy's lot as an example. She said she has spoken with several other individuals about turning that space - left vacant when a Cedar Rapids couple moved the historic Luther Brewer house off the property in the spring - into a private park.

The plan suggests adding public art, including murals and sculptures, and an event space, possibly in Turner Alley where Grant Wood's studio was located, to hold health forums, festivals or farmers markets.

Branding

Thomas and Albert said the plan calls for the addition of signs and gateways, or key entrances, to the medical district. The signs will help patients navigate throughout the district, as well as present a visible brand.

The plan calls for several types of signs, including banner and street signs, building and facility identification signs, informational kiosks, and directional signs placed on Interstate 380, which Albert said the committee will have to work with the Iowa Department of Transportation to accomplish.

Thomas said the banners, which will feature the MedQuarter's name and signature red Q, should go up within the next few months.

'The graphics are done we just need to make them and put them up,” she said.

Medical district leaders also will work to dress up the eight designated gateways, by adding signs or public art to mark the space.

The SSMID's Thomas said that St. Luke's has proposed to put a Grant Wood mural on the side of its storage building at the corner of A Avenue NE and Seventh Street NE, which is considered a gateway to the medical district.

'We're encouraging Mercy to do something as well,” she said.

Both Thomas and Albert said they're excited to begin work and for residents to start seeing changes to the district.

'People are going to start seeing things here pretty quickly,” Albert said.