Village ‘surprised’ at swift hospital progress
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Fredonia's top building and zoning officer offered a brief update about the Brooks-TLC hospital construction project this week.
Charles LaBarbera said inground plumbing, footers and foundations are constructed at the Main Street site. "They're setting steel now, they're moving along pretty good," he said.
LaBarbera spoke about the hospital project at a Fredonia Board of Trustees workshop, in response to a query from Trustee Paul Wandel.
"Actually, I'm surprised they're moving as fast as they are," LaBarbera added. "This is a three-year project -- to have the steel getting set already, pretty good."
Wandel asked LaBarbera if he thought construction workers would labor during cold weather. "I'm sure," LaBarbera replied. "All your footers and foundations are done -- if it's a blizzard, I'm sure they're not gonna work. But they will (otherwise) be working. There's a heated trailer there for them."
The hospital project's cost was estimated at $223 million when Gov. Kathy Hochul visited in August to announce $50 million more in state funding, putting New York's contribution to the facility at $124 million. The hospital is tentatively named Northern Chautauqua Hospital.
The hospital is intended to replace Brooks-TLC's current facility on Central Avenue in Dunkirk, Brooks Memorial Hospital. Brooks-TLC officials think the Dunkirk building is too antiquated for modern medical needs.