Turner Construction Company
October 26, 2012Mayor Rahm Emanuel
City of Chicago
Chicago City Hall, 5th Floor
121 N. LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60602
Dear Mayor:
On behalf of Turner Construction we are writing to you today regarding our support of the demolition of the old Prentice Women’s Hospital and subsequent construction of new research facilities adjacent to the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center. While we certainly support the need to preserve the history of design and construction, we also recognize that not every structure can be saved.
The new research facility would be a very significant project for the construction industry, just as the original Lurie Research Center was when we built it in 2006, with thousands of jobs created. Also, the physical proximity of patient care and research facilities is only growing -- clearly a very positive trend that Northwestern University would be achieving with this project due to its closeness to NMH. Lastly, we constantly observe prestigious universities such as NU planning and building new facilities to stay at the forefront of education and research, thereby maintaining their elite status as learning institutions.
For the reasons stated above Turner is in favor of demolishing the old Prentice Women’s Hospital and constructing a new research facility. Thank you for your time in reviewing this letter, and please do not hesitate to contact us directly at 312.327.2770 with any questions.
Sincerely,
Stephen W. Fort
Senior Vice President
Richard A. Blair
Vice President, General Manager