It's official: Cedar Rapids will close part of Second Avenue SE

A collection of more than a dozen well-spoken citizens told the City Council last night that it was a mistake to close a two-block piece of Second Avenue SE to accommodate the Physicians' Clinic of Iowa's wish to put its proposed Regional Medical Mall in the center of the street.

None of the comments mattered. The council cast the same 6-3 vote it had cast twice in September to close the street.

Last night's vote was final. It clears the way for PCI to move ahead with the construction of its two-story, 205,000-square-foot medical facility, which will allow the physicians' group to move from five different locations to one location.

Mayor Ron Corbett led the majority in favor of closing the street while council member Monica Vernon asked the council to support the PCI project but keep the street open.

Vernon said she would support using city funds if PCI would build the clinic like the Springfield Clinic in Springfield, Ill., which incorporates a three-story connection across the street to clinic space on both sides of the street.

After last night's council vote, Mike Sundall, CEO of PCI, said the criticism directed at PCI by citizens opposed to closing a portion of Second Avenue SE was “a little bit like getting stoned to death with cotton balls.”

Sundall said PCI's partners have discussed suggestions and criticisms of the street closure plan over many months, but in the end, PCI believes its concept of a medical mall required closing a piece of Second Avenue SE.

He said PCI now will work to finalize financing for the project, which will have a minimum cost of $40 million, including a parking ramp. The city is providing $13.24 million in front-end help, which the property taxes stemming from the PCI investment will pay back over 25 years.

St. Luke's Hospital, which will own the land on which the project is build, will pay $696,371 for Second Avenue SE between 10th and 12th streets SE, a block of 11th Street SE and two alleys. The sum increased from a cost estimate of $500,000 on Monday after the city factored in maintenance costs to the street over the last few decades.

Council member Vernon had Sundall recount PCI's own decision-making process as it made the choice to build near downtown Cedar Rapids and not in Hiawatha. Sundall said the PCI shareholders initially wanted to go to Hiawatha, but voted 42-4 in September 2009 to build in Cedar Rapids. That was eight or so months before PCI decided it wanted to close Second Avenue SE for its medical facility, which Vernon noted to try to show that the Hiawatha threat was not a real one.

Council members Pat Shey and Kris Gulick both said the PCI development would be a “game-changer” for the city. Shey said he didn't know of any other $40-million project being built in the city by the private sector.

Council member Tom Podzimek rejected the idea, which was made repeatedly by those opposed to closing the street, that the street closure would hurt the city. He said cities have a long tradition of closing streets. He called Second Avenue SE a “runway” through the city, and said closing a couple blocks of it could add vibrancy to the community.

Vernon said she didn't want to presume she knew how to design PCI's medical clinic, but at the same time, she said PCI shouldn't forcing the city to make decisions about its streets. Giving up an arterial street like Second Avenue SE is a “tremendous thing” to ask a city to do, she said.

Council member Don Karr said he felt as if PCI was bullying him into voting for their plan.

In the end, Corbett, Shey, Gulick, Podzimek and council members Chuck Swore and Justin Shields voted for closing the street; Vernon, Karr and council member Chuck Wieneke voted against it.

The same vote split came in the vote on approving the incentive package for the project.