November 3, 1999
Making a house a home
Restoration work begins on 30-room Hospitality House
By Garret Leiva
Herald editor
Nine layers of lead-based paint have been striped away with an air hammer, the roof reshingled and each exterior masonry joint tuck pointed and plastered; after years of planning and $3 million in fund-raising Hospitality House is becoming a brick and concrete reality.
This fall crews began the "rehabilitation" of Building 27 on the grounds of the Grand Traverse Commons - the proposed site for a 30 room Hospital House just south of Munson Medical Center. The 100 year old historic "cottage" is being renovated for up to $5 million to provide housing for patients and their families who travel long distances to Munson Medical Center.
Making the proposed Hospitality House a home, however, has been a sizable commitment; especially financially.
"It will cost us $700,000 more to rehabilitate this building and make it a 30 room hospitality house as opposed to knocking it down and building a 30 room motel," noted Jay Zrimec, president of Munson Healthcare Regional Foundation - the philanthropic arm of Munson Medical Center.
"We felt it was something we were committed to do in keeping with the spirit of this whole project. Fortunately, we've had a huge amount of support in the community through our fund-raising efforts."
The idea of a hospitality house was first raised in 1988 by a nonprofit group, Traverse Area Hospitality House. The group was organized to provide temporary, affordable lodging for family members of patients who live a minimum of 25 miles from Munson Medical Center, as well as out-of-town patients who must provide their own lodging during outpatient treatments.
In 1994, they joined forces with the newly formed Munson Healthcare Regional Foundation. Together, they have been working on the current Hospitality House plan to rehabilitate Building 27.
Zrimec noted that more than 4,000 patients per year travel from home for overnight care at Munson Medical Center. In addition, some 40,000 patients travel a significant distance for same-day surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or diagnostic tests. The goal of Hospitality House is to provide affordable accommodations for these patients and their families.
"When people stay at the Hospitality House we want them to feel comfort, relief and that they're being helped. It is our hope to create a communal environment that is part of the healing process," Zrimec said.
To create that healing atmosphere, those rehabilitating Building 27 have kept true to the building's historic roots - including the vintage wood and glass transoms framing each of the Hospitality House rooms. Along with a 16-week lead paint cleanup project, other notable renovations included putting on a new roof, rebuilding chimneys, replacing water damaged masonry and painting the building's exterior.
Jim Fegan, manager of Facilities Construction at Munson Medical Center, said the trickiest part of the project will be placing modern day mechanical systems into a century-old facility. Another renovation roadblock could be finding workers in the "dead" trade of plaster, which will be used on the walls in the 20,000 square feet of finished space.
By paying attention to details, those working on the two-story Hospitality House seek to provide a home-like atmosphere for patients and their families. Kitchenette cooking facilities will be available and common areas are intended to provide a supportive environment for guests as opposed to an isolated motel room. Other benefits include an on-site manager, an on-call chaplain and volunteers available to fulfill special needs.
While the Hospitality House has a proposed completion date of fall 2000, the finished rehabilitation will be in many ways returning Building 27 full circle.
"Truly, the right word is that we are rehabilitating this building, not adding, not modernizing or restoring," noted Doug Wipperman, manager Facilities Engineering at Munson Medical Center. "The purpose is very similar to that of 100 years ago; it was used for healing and it's still about healing."