By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – The construction of the new Parkview Wabash Hospital took another step forward on Wednesday night at the Wabash City Plan Commission meeting at City Hall. The commission voted to recommend the rezoning part of land that the new Parkview Wabash facility will sit on adjacent to US 24. After Parkview Wabash acquired another contiguous seven acre lot on which they will build their new hospital, the new parcel needed to be rezoned from R1 residential to GB general business. The original parcel on the site had already been zoned for general business and Wednesday night’s action means that even a larger facility can potentially be built on the site. The two separate parcels of land also need to be re-platted into one parcel before work on the new land can begin.
Todd Wambach, Parkview’s Project Manager for the new hospital, describes the benefit of the new facility that will soon break ground.
Five of the six members of the commission voted in favor of the recommendation but one member abstained due to the fact that they are an employee of the Parkview system. The Wabash City Council must approve the recommendation of the Plan Commission for the rezoning and re-platting of the parcel. A special exception must also be obtained at the city’s next Board of Zoning Appeals on Thursday, March 17th.
Ground breaking on the new site is expected to take place in July with completion of the new hospital slated for April of 2018. With the new land, the facility will sit on a 38 acre plot off John Kissenger Dr. just south of US 24. The current hospital on East Street is contained on a 10 acre plot of land.