Buildings On KEMH Campus To Be Demolished

January 5, 2016

Bermuda Hospitals Board [BHB] will be demolishing two buildings at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital this year saying “both have been unoccupied and are in poor physical condition.”

BHB said, “The Queen Elizabeth Nurses Residence [QENR] on Berry Hill Road and the section of the building that housed the Continuing Care Units [CCU] are the two structures that will be taken down.

“Both have been unoccupied and are in poor physical condition. This does not impact the chapel, Heddington Gym, Activities Lounge or Lymphedema Clinic, which will remain in their current locations.

“The demolition contract was awarded to Island Construction Services Ltd. after a robust procurement process. Island Construction will be supported by Bermuda Air Conditioning Ltd and Universal Electric Ltd.

“Work is slated to begin in early January and will last approximately four months. Prior to the demolition protective hoarding will be erected to contain any debris. Misting machines will also be put in place to control dust levels.

A section of the old hospital being demolished in 2011:

“Construction on the site of an active hospital has to be carefully planned as vibrations can affect hospital equipment and dust can pose an infection risk. For these reasons the project will be carried out to Local and Canadian Standards Association [CSA] Health and Safety and Infection Control guidelines.

“The $2 million demolition project includes finished landscaping and represents a significant annual saving to BHB. For the CCU building alone the annual savings are estimated at $1.5 million representing utilities, facilities maintenance, cleaning, security and insurance.

“Any necessary road closures are expected to take place on weekends. Detailed notice of road closures will be issued to news media at the appropriate times.”

“These buildings are surplus to our current needs and demolishing them will save BHB in maintenance costs,” said Marshall Minors, BHB Director of Facilities Management & Engineering Services.

“The cost of renovating and upgrading either of the buildings to a usable and safe condition would be extremely expensive.”

“We want to reassure the public that the demolition plans do not include the hospital’s chapel. This will remain on the site in its current location as a place of solace for the public,” Mr Minors added. “A new external wall will be constructed to preserve this older part of the hospital from the demolished CCU wings.”

“We are mindful of our neighbours both residents and businesses,” said Mr Minors. “We’ve communicated with them directly and have an open door policy to address any of their concerns.”

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Comments (12)

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  1. Reality Check says:

    “Both have been unoccupied and are in poor physical condition.”

    Good reasons, I suppose, to demolish.

    But why do we not recycle buildings to other purposes. Why must we always knock down and later build new?

    Twenty years ago, a family member went to a well known E Coast university where the dormitory building that housed him in his freshman year was then 140 years old. Many of the lecture halls were in buildings that were well over 100 years old and they’re all still there. New buildings have been added; but at this university there is little of this ‘knock down’ and later – and expensively – build new.

    H’mmm? What shall we knock down next?

    Oh, there’s that building at 105 Front Street, immediately north of the Cenotaph. Been there well over a hundred years. And not much of any real use happens there.

    Let’s knock it down. Start at 10am on a Tuesday morning with four big ‘dozers coming in at full speed from North, East, South, and West; and coming simultaneously.

    I’ll watch and clap!

  2. Triangle Drifter says:

    “Protective HOARDING”? Had to read that a couple of times. Does that mean that a certain destruction company cannot salvage the stone out of the buildings & then sell it off later, after the dust has settled?

    • Keepin' it Real!...4Real! says:

      You may have read it a couple of times but it sounds as if you still don’t know what “protective hoarding” means or is.

  3. hmmm says:

    Island Construction, isn’t that our Ex PLP Health Minister ?

    • Rico says:

      Sure is.. Shows that the OBA doesn’t only choose family and friends, whoever can do the job for the right price and on time.

      • Keepin' it Real!...4Real! says:

        Or Uncle Dunk may have felt obligated to give it…knowing the whining that it would have occurred had he not…

        Hmmmm??…should I buy a truck or a dumpster…plenty of tonnage to transport…Drivers…START! YOUR! ENGINES!!

        Yo Zane!…where you want dis load ?…airport? Or down de yard?

        • Izzypop says:

          Always the big boys. They never help the small guys who hv the equipment

  4. Tom Cooke says:

    As far as I know… this was supposed to have been done this time last year… but whatever. ..

  5. Vote for Me says:

    An interesting article… goes to show that Minister DeSilva’s company can ‘compete with the best of them’.

    • Jolly says:

      Only a few companies have that big equipment. He’s made the investment, so of course he’s in prime position for work like this!

      • Izzypop says:

        There are a lot of smaller companies who hv the same machines

  6. Triangle Drifter says:

    The well known nickname of Island Destruction is very well earned. How much construction have they done?

    Oh & yes, if they can do the job as per contract for the best price, why not?

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