City approves Med Center building site

Biomedical facility to be erected The Philadelphia City Council approved a change in zoning ordinances yesterday that will allow construction of Biomedical Research Building Two to proceed. Building Two is the second of three buildings slated to house basic research activities for the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Building One is already operational, and was renamed the Stellar-Chance Laboratories last spring. Groundbreaking for Building Two is expected to occur at the beginning of April, according to Steven Wiesenthal, vice president of architecture and facilities management for the Medical Center. Building Two should be completed by the end of 1998, he said, adding that he does not know the status of the project's funding. City and Commonwealth Relations Director Paul Cribbins said yesterday's ruling changes the zoning classification of the University-owned land on which Building Two will be constructed. The land is located immediately behind the Clinical Research Building and the Lot 44 parking garage, and across the street from Stellar-Chance. The plot had been on city maps and deeds as an area zoned for residential use because it had been part of the old Philadelphia General Hospital, a city facility that closed in the late 1980s. The council ruling means that this "parcel" is now considered part of the University's "institutional development district," Cribbins said. The ordinance change passed by unanimous vote, with all 14 council members present, according to Assistant Director of City and Commonwealth Relations Sid Holmes. Mayor Ed Rendell now has 10 days to sign the provision into law, and Cribbins said he has no reason to doubt that the mayor will do so. The City Planning Commission has supported the construction of Building Two, Cribbins added. The resolution advocating the zoning change was introduced in June, just before council recessed for the summer, he said. "We weren't able to get a hearing until November 1," he explained. University officials gave testimony to council's Rules Committee at that hearing, he said. Wiesenthal said the new building will provide space for "an expansion of the research activities that are in Stellar-Chance Laboratories," including basic medical investigation and the Institute for Human Gene Therapy. This is the second boost for biomedical research on campus this semester. In October administrators broke ground for the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology on the 34th Street site previously occupied by Smith Hall. The U.S. Department of Defense has already pledged almost $24 million to the IAST project. And Board of Trustees Chairperson Roy Vagelos and his wife Diana have contributed $10 million for the building's construction. The facility will be named in their honor.

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