Clairmont Heights Civic Association

Hospital, Housing Plans Revised
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee Posted: 03/28/2008
The Clairmont Campus will no longer be considered as the new location of Emory’s Clifton Road medical facilities under the Campus Master Plan, University officials announced Thursday.

Emory officials announced their proposal to switch Emory’s hospitals and clinics on Clifton Road with the Clairmont Campus last November.

But detailed analysis has shown that the Clairmont Campus is not a viable site for relocation, Vice President for Communications Ron Sauder said.

Michael Mandl, executive vice president for finance and administration, wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel that the University is focusing scenario-planning efforts on the east side of Clifton Road sites.

According to Bob Hascall, vice president of campus services, the move to the east side of Clifton Road could replace the old sorority village.
The detailed recommendation for the move will be presented to the Board of Trustees in their next meeting early June.

University officials said last November that moving the Emory medical facilities might be the best option for Emory and its Strategic Plan, which calls for the expansion of Emory’s health care arm.

When University officials proposed the Clairmont switch, they said doing so would not only alleviate the traffic on Clifton Road, but also unify the freshman and sophomore classes by allowing underclassmen to live closer to main campus.

College students were divided in their response to the tentative switch between Clairmont and the medical facilities. Some students had expressed worries that there would be a lack of housing once construction began, but others agreed that the switch would be better for traffic on Clifton Road.

College sophomore Jordan Keller, who created a Facebook group named “Do not move the hospital to Clairmont!” to encourage student dialogue, said that he is glad the University ruled out Clairmont as an option.

Now “there won’t be a time when people have to live somewhere trashy under construction,” said Keller, who is a staff writer for the Wheel.

Keller said he plans to delete his Facebook group.

“People will see Clairmont and there won’t be as many people seeing construction zones,” Keller said, “which is always good for Emory.”

— Contact Michelle Ye Hee Lee
http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=25340