UAMS to Hold Feb. 16 Community Meeting on Implosion

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – Residents of neighborhoods surrounding the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) campus are invited to a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 16 to hear the plans and safety precautions for the upcoming implosion of the UAMS Student Dormitory building.


 


UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., will be joined by Doug Loizeaux of Maryland-based Controlled Demolition, Inc., the lead contractor for the implosion, to talk about the event, scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 19. A question-and-answer period will be held with Loizeaux and UAMS officials, including Leo Gehring, UAMS vice chancellor for campus operations, and Richard Pierson, executive director of UAMS Medical Center


 


The meeting will be held in the Fred W. Smith Conference Center on the 12th floor of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute on Jack Stephens Drive. Free parking is available in the Outpatient Parking Deck, across from the Stephens Institute. Visitors are asked to bring their parking deck tickets to the meeting to be validated.


 


The 45-year-old, 10-story dormitory, located between the UAMS Medical Center’s Ward Tower and the VA Hospital, is being imploded to make room for a major hospital addition. The implosion is expected to last about 10 to 15 seconds and vibration should be minimal.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,320 students and 690 medical residents. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with almost 9,000 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.3 billion a year.