Altoona Regional Health System officials plan to construct a new medical facility on the Logan Boulevard site of the former Fiore Mitsubishi Isuzu auto dealership to open sometime in 2014.
Lexington One Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Altoona Regional, recently purchased the property from Northwest Savings Bank for $1.7 million, Chief Operating Officer Ron McConnell said Thursday.
The property previously had been purchased by Northwest Savings Bank through a sheriff's sale after the auto dealership closed in October 2010.
The nearly 7-acre site is a good location with nearly 19,000 vehicles passing by every day, McConnell said
"We envision the creation of an almost new Station Medical Center. We are still in the planning stages. What we envision now could be different," McConnell said.
Southern Alleghenies Elite Orthopedics, an affiliate of Altoona Regional, plans to move from its temporary location at Gateway Center, 601 Hawthorne Drive, Hollidaysburg, to the 736 Logan Blvd. site and become an anchor of the new facility, said Felix Mariani, practice administrator of Lexington Surgical Associates, another affiliate of Altoona Regional.
"We are in the process of developing the project. We will raze that building and construct a state-of-the-art structure," Mariani said. "We are a regional practice serving patients from surrounding counties. We are hoping to be another cog in the wheel of Altoona Regional Health System offers."
Altoona Regional hopes to expand Elite Orthopedics from six to eight surgeons, McConnell said.
"We are looking at opportunities to house other Altoona Regional services. The imaging center may be there as well. It could include an MRI, X-ray and possibly lab services. There are a number of other physician practices and medical specialists that are looking to be part of it as well."
The size of the building has not been determined but it would be set back off of Logan Boulevard with parking in front, McConnell said.
"We would like to begin construction in the summer of 2013 and hope to have it completed in about 12 months," McConnell said.
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.
