The three-year reconstruction project to transform a vacated North Knoxville hospital into the City's Public Safety Complex will be substantially completed by the end of 2022/early 2023, with employees and operations moving in incrementally.
The Public Safety Complex consists of three repurposed former St. Mary's Hospital office buildings between St. Mary Street and Huron Street, near Woodland Avenue, just west of Fulton High School.
The cluster of buildings will serve as a combined complex for the Police and Fire Departments, the E911 backup system, Pension System offices and City Court operations.
Additionally, the City cleared the northern end of the former hospital campus to make room for future private redevelopment - likely, new housing and green space. The private redevelopment will be anchored by the stalwart, stately and iconic 1929 Building, the original St. Mary's Hospital, which was carefully preserved and safeguarded by the City and its contractors. By clearing the site of obsolete, unusable buildings that had for decades surrounded the 1929 Building, this marble-accented architectural gem is now free-standing and visible from all directions.
Next door, at the former Magdalen Clarke Tower, Lincoln Memorial University is privately investing $40 million and will graduate hundreds of nursing and dental students each year. A tree-lined LMU-funded quadrangle is planned, adjacent to the new City Court.
On the south side of the site, the City, Knox County and McNabb Center are partnering to convert the 25,000-square-foot former St. Mary's Ambulatory Surgery Center into an urgent care and behavioral health facility.
By the time the Public Safety Complex opens, the City will have invested more than $70 million to consolidate key government services, prevented a vacant hospital campus from devolving into blight, and supported and enhanced with various private partners the surrounding North Knoxville neighborhoods.
Mayor Madeline Rogero announced initial plans for the Public Safety Complex in her April 27, 2018
State of the City budget address.
New Green Space at the Center of the Public Safety Complex
Here are concept renderings, courtesy of Lincoln Memorial University and Sparkman and Associates Architects, of what the public green space by the Safety Complex may look like in the near future.
LMU this semester began offering nursing programs in the Magdalen Clarke Tower (the tallest building on the site), after renovating the first two floors of the tower and the parking garage. LMU is proposing a new west-facing entrance into Clarke Tower, connecting with a public quadrangle-type green space.
These rendering offer the view looking eastward. To the left is the historic 1929 Building, the original St. Mary's, with its parapets and marble accents. To the right is the City's Public Safety Complex - three repurposed hospital buildings that will house Police, Fire, City Court, E-911 and Pension System offices and operations.
No timeline has been announced for the new Magdalen Clarke Tower entrance and quad, but the Public Safety Complex is scheduled to open in summer 2022, and the site will be at least preliminarily landscaped by then.
Aerial View of the Public Safety Complex Construction Site
Below is an overall site plan presented to Mayor Indya Kincannon on February 13, 2020.
Click here to view the full presentation
2020
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Safety Complex Updates - Check here for weekly updates on the project
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Knoxville Public Safety Complex Presentation by McCarty Holsaple McCarty - 02/13/20 [PDF]
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Former Safety Building - Future Clayton Science Museum
2019
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LMU - St. Mary's Diagram - 11/25/29 [PDF]
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Preliminary Schematic Design Presentation - 08/19/19 [PDF]
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Agreement with McCarty Holsaple McCarty - 07/31/19 [PDF]
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Amendment on Agreement with Volkert - 07/30/19 [PDF]
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Purchase Sale and Agreement with Metro Knoxville HMA, LLC - 05/31/19 [PDF]
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Agreement with Quantum Environmental - 05/31/19 [PDF]
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Messer Construction RFP Submission - 05/22/19 [PDF]
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RFP for Professional Construction Manager at Risk for a New Public Safety Complex - 05/22/19 [PDF],
Addendums 1-3 [PDF],
Pre-Proposal Sheet [PDF],
Tabulation Sheet [PDF] and
General Conditions Cost Detail [XLSX]
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Resolution on Agreement with McCarty Holsaple McCarty - 05/07/19 [PDF]
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RFQ for New Public Safety Complex - Hazardous Material Survey, Geotechnical Exploration and Construction Materials Testing Services - 03/01/19 [PDF],
Addendum 1 [PDF] and
Tabulation Sheet [PDF]
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RFQ for New Public Safety Complex - Architectural and Engineering Design Services - 01/18/19 [PDF],
Addendum 1 [PDF] and
Tabulation Sheet [PDF]
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City Council Workshop 01/10/19 [PDF]
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Preliminary Facility Assessment & Master Plan Prepared by Benefield Richters - 01/08/19 [PDF]
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Preliminary Letter of Intent to Physicians Regional Medical Center (Tennova) - January 2019 [PDF]
2018
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Agreement with Volkert - 11/10/18 [PDF]
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Agreement with Benefield Richters - 09/25/18 [PDF]
• Public Safety Complex Official Ribbon-Cutting Set for Oct. 25, 2023
• Make Sure and Check the Safety Complex Blog
• City Pursuing New Site for Police and Fire Headquarters - 08/16/2018
• New Science Museum, Police/Fire HQ Announced in Mayor Rogero's State of the City - 04/27/2018
• Public Safety Complex Move-in to Begin in January
• Welcome, Neighbor! LMU Opens College of Dental Medicine, Clinic Next to City Public Safety Complex
• Crews to Repair Original Brick Façade at Public Safety Complex
• Week 125: Heading into Long Final Home Stretch
• Week 110: Work Progressing in All 3 Buildings, Plus Walls Going Up at New Court Building
• Week 109: Check Out the Progress with City Court Construction
• Week 100: Public Safety Complex is Two-Thirds Completed!
• Week 97: Drywall going up!
• Week 93: More Interior Walls Going Up
• City, County Moving Ahead With Behavioral Health & Urgent Care Facility Next to Safety Complex
• Week 91: New Interiors for 3 Repurposed Buildings, Footers Poured for New Court Building
• Week 59: Grading the Public Safety Complex Grounds
• Week 56: Concrete Foundation Walls Formed, Poured
• Week 54: Pouring Concrete - Lots of It
• Coming Soon: Peaceful Green Space at Center of Public Safety Complex
• Week 52: Foundation Wall Going Up
• Week 51: Preserving the 1929 Building, Constructing a Wall and Removing Debris
• Week 49: New Foundation, Big Debris, Protecting the 1929 Building
• Week 48: Foundation Walls of Razed Annunciation Wing Now Being Demolished
• Week 47: Masons Repair Parapet Atop 1929 Building
• Weeks 44 and 45: Closing Out 2020 With Protective Work at 1929 Building, Final Demos, Debris Cleanup
• Week 42: North Wing Demolition Continuing
• Week 41: Cafeteria Demolished, St. Joseph's Wing Coming Down
• Week 39: 200-foot-tall Smokestack Coming Down
• Week 38: Work Progresses on Women's Pavilion, West Wing Separation; Smokestack Coming Down Next Week
• Week 37: Marian Wing Demolition Continues
• Week 36: Crews Taking Steps to Protect 1929 Building
• Week 34: Foundation Wall Being Removed, Site Cleanup Under Way
• Week 33: Preserving St. Mary's Legacy
• Week 31: Check Out the New Views
• Week 29: Reconstruction Progress Evident in These Aerial and Ground-level Photos
• Week 28: Annunciation Wing Demolition Continues
• Week 27: Mass Demolition of Annunciation Wing Getting Underway
• Week 26: Last Part of Central Wing Patient Tower Coming Down
• Week 25: Central Wing Annex Interior Demolition Nearly Complete
• Week 24: Check Out Aerial View of Reconstruction in Progress
• Week 23: Crews Working in 8 Different Hospital Buildings
• Week 22: High Reach Excavator Brought to Bear on C-Wing Patient Tower
• Week 21: Demolition Moves to Central Wing Patient Tower
• Week 20: Work Expands to 5 St. Mary's Hospital Buildings; Central Wing Coming Down
• Week 15: Crews Tackling Central Annex, A Wing, C Wing
• Preserving History: St. Mary's Hospital's Legacy to Live On in New Public Safety Complex
• Week 13: Professional Office Building Interior Demolition Continues
• Week 11 update: Foundation Walls and Interior Demolition
• Week 10: Protecting the Iconic 1929 Original St. Mary's Building
• More Week 8 Details: From Utility Tunnel Removal to Salvaging Bricks
• Week 8: Demolition Inside Professional Office Building Continues
• Contractor Crews Carry Work Into April
• Week 5: Banners Hung on Perimeter Fence, Demolition and Cleanup Work Continue
• Week 4: Check Out and Share Our FAQs; Also, Demolition Tasks Continuing
• Week 3: Work Continues at East Wing, Professional Office Building
• Week 2: Demolition and Abatement Continue
• Demolition Begins - Kickoff of 2 Year Project