A place to park: Location selected for parkade at General Hospital

A spot has been found for the long-awaited parkade at Regina’s General Hospital.

In a media release Monday, the Saskatchewan government said the parkade will be built in the northwest portion of the existing visitor parking lot. The goal is for construction to begin in the spring of 2023, with a completion date in 2024.

“Our government values and appreciates health-care workers and the vital services they provide to Saskatchewan people,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said in the release.

“We have heard the concerns raised by health-care workers, patients and families about the availability and security of parking near the Regina General Hospital and we are pleased to be moving forward with this parkade project.”

Staff, patients and family members have been decrying a lack of parking at the hospital for years. There also have been concerns raised about damage to vehicles and the safety of people in the area.

The government said the parkade will include at least 800 stalls “and will allow the proponent to include commercial space or additional stalls in their proposal.”

“This project is a long time coming and we are pleased to see it move forward,” Regina Northeast MLA Gary Grewal said in the release. “With another major infrastructure investment, our government is supporting industry while enhancing safety and convenience at the Regina General Hospital.”

In March of 2020, the provincial government directed the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to examine the feasibility of putting a parkade on hospital grounds.

Technical assessments of the site in the lot’s northwest corner led to a discovery this past June of “anomalies” in the ground. Later that month, excavation determined the material was structural debris and old building materials including brick, ceramic, fieldstone, glass and mortar.

A Request for Proposals is currently open for a technical team to do the final planning, procurement, design and construction of the parkade.

The government expects the building to be constructed through a partial lease procurement model, meaning it’d be owned, maintained and operated by a third party, with the SHA leasing it from that company.

The release said the authority is looking at ways to minimize disruptions to parking while the structure is being built.