The University Foundation's plan to build the West Main Clinical Building and large-scale parking garage was approved Tuesday by the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review.
The six-story clinic and seven-story garage will contribute to the new Cancer Center that the University's Medical Center is adding. Construction is expected to begin in early 2007, said Tim Rose, chief executive officer of the University Foundation, in an e-mail. How exactly the Medical Center will use the new clinic has not been finalized.
"We may rent space from it," said Peter Jump, director of public relations at the Medical Center.
The 1,100-car parking garage will replace one of the Medical Center's current garages, which will be demolished when the Cancer Center is erected, Rose said in an e-mail.
Mary Joy Scala, preservation and design planner for the city of Charlottesville, said the first floor of the building will not only serve clinical purposes, but at the request of the city, will also include retail space. Possibilities include a pharmacy or coffee shop.
Planning for the buildings has moved along quickly due to the almost immediate approval by the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review, Scala said. The plans were approved after only two presentations to the board, chair Fred Wolf said.
"The building was approved by the committee because we felt it met the minimum standards for the building guidelines," Wolf said.
Plans for the clinical building were approved unanimously while the garage passed with a 4-2 vote. Dissenting Board members were concerned with the scale of the garage.
"I opposed the garage in its current configuration," Board member William Adams said. "It's too big, there is too much mass to it."
Adams said he is apprehensive about the impact new construction will have on the West Main area.
"Large-scale buildings are starting to jump the tracks from the hospital --it will change the nature of the area," Adams said.
Despite any concerns, the structures were approved after some changes to the original plans, and now the University Foundation is waiting for a Special Use Permit from the City Council.
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