The basement walls of the Wexner Medical Center Inpatient Hospital are being waterproofed, and the north and south elevator and stair towers now exceed 110 feet. The center elevator and stair tower, just getting started, will be the tallest of the three towers, eventually reaching 410 feet. Sewer and electrical connections are being made under 12th Avenue at Cannon Drive and will support critical utility infrastructure for the new facility, scheduled to open in early 2026.
Additional construction progress highlights include:
- 12th Avenue at Cannon Drive is anticipated to reopen late July 2021 as utility work nears completion.
- The concrete walls on the west side of the site, from lower level to ground level, are progressing, and waterproofing continues.
- The underground tunnel that will extend from the Inpatient Hospital to 12th Avenue is completed. Chilled water piping installation is underway.
- Excavation of the northeast corner of the site has begun, and elevated slab pours on the first level are taking place around the north and south core towers.
- The center elevator and stair core are the largest and tallest of all the facility cores, encompassing 20 elevators and extending to the future helipad. Formwork and rebar are being set to pour the lower level to ground level.
The 1.9 million-square-foot hospital began construction in fall 2020 and is the largest single facilities project ever undertaken at Ohio State.