Memphis Baptist Hospital Implosion

[sleepy]

The Baptist Hospital in Memphis, once the largest private hospital in the US, was imploded today to make room for the UT-Baptist biotech research park.

There are some links to videos on this page:

http://www.wmctv.com/

Imo, the best video seems to be the one named "Baptist Implosion: Pinnacle Building camera"

Right before the implosion:

[tombarnes]

I was sorry to see that the original building (not visible in this view) was imploded along with the ugly later buildings. One wishes the oldest part of the hospital might have been preserved somehow...

[william]

I was born at Baptist in September 1962. Hate to see the old lady go down.

William Williams

[ricky_the_great]

I was born at Baptist in September 1962. Hate to see the old lady go down.

William Williams

its actually kinda depressing haha

[smeagolsfree]

This has been on a lot of the major network stations too. From what was said, there are plans to put a bio-tech facility there. Is this right? If so that will boost the economy in a big way. Bio-tech is the new major industry.

[Rural King]

I woke up to watch it on TV (wow having the Memphis and Nashville networks is great). Amazing how short a pile of rubble such a tall building creates.

[sleepy]

This has been on a lot of the major network stations too. From what was said, there are plans to put a bio-tech facility there. Is this right? If so that will boost the economy in a big way. Bio-tech is the new major industry.

Yes, that's right. It will be a joint project of Baptist and UT-Memphis. UT is already building a new College of Pharmacy building as part of it. I'm not sure how connected it is, but LeBonheur Hospital is also building a new 12 story hospital complex:

[TennBear]

Sleepy, The new LeBonheur will be about where it is currently. It will be between Poplar and Adams at Dunlap. The Research Park will be between Madison and Union at Pauline.

For those who don't know Memphis, East-West Streets from North to South through the Medical Center

Poplar

Washington (currently goes through to Pauline, but with new LeBonheur plan ends at Dunlap)

Adams

Jefferson

Court

Madison

East

Union

North-South Streets from West to East through Medical Center

Dunlap

Pauline (Makes a big turn between Washington and Adams, so really two blocks wide at Adams and South)

Camilla

So the Research Park will be one block East and two blocks South

[greystone98]

We just returned from a weekend visit to Memphis and had an opportunity to see the before and after. A couple of us actually felt the early morning vibrations from blocks away at the Hampton Suites on Beale.

[sleepy]

Sleepy, The new LeBonheur will be about where it is currently. It will be between Poplar and Adams at Dunlap. The Research Park will be between Madison and Union at Pauline.

For those who don't know Memphis, East-West Streets from North to South through the Medical Center

Poplar

Washington (currently goes through to Pauline, but with new LeBonheur plan ends at Dunlap)

Adams

Jefferson

Court

Madison

East

Union

North-South Streets from West to East through Medical Center

Dunlap

Pauline (Makes a big turn between Washington and Adams, so really two blocks wide at Adams and South)

Camilla

So the Research Park will be one block East and two blocks South

I know geographically where LeBonheur is, but I believe they will be part of the biotech consortium--bioworks--which also includes St. Jude, as well as the UT-Baptist research park.

[Clobber]

I know geographically where LeBonheur is, but I believe they will be part of the biotech consortium--bioworks--which also includes St. Jude, as well as the UT-Baptist research park.

Yeah, it's part of the overarching gameplan to improve Memphis' visibility on the national biomedical radar. Also, as impressive as the UT Baptist research park is, I think LeBonheur is equally impressive, although it seems to be doing so a little more quietly. The goal is evidently to make it a national leader in pediatric medicine, and they have had a few recruiting coups in terms of bringing in world-class doctors to Memphis to work there (such as in neurology). The proximity and cooperation with a world-class institution such as St. Jude obviously helps, but the prospect of having two leading children's hospitals in Memphis is exciting.

I think all of the biomed projects create such a synergy around the city. Hopefully the results match the potential.

[northernbizzkit1]

Did anyone see the renderings of the new facilities to occupy the land where the old hospital was? It was very nice! It looked as though there were clusters of 10-15 story buildings surrounding a large common area with crescent-shaped fountains. It looked very metro! Also, does anyone know how the progress is coming on the Boston Baskin cancer center? The last time I was downtown, I saw that construction had just begun.