Tri-Cities first parking garage opening in Richland

Kadlec Regional Medical Center’s newest addition will help relieve a major ailment at the Richland hospital: a lack of parking.

The $15.2 million, five-level parking garage — a first for the Tri-Cities — opens Aug. 1.

Hospital staff, Richland city officials and other community members gathered Tuesday for a ribbon cutting and ceremonial “first car parking.”

“This is going to make a dramatic difference in how patients and visitors and staff access this organization, and I couldn’t be more proud of this amazing accomplishment,” said Lane Savitch, Kadlec Health System regional chief executive.

He noted that more that about 7,700 cubic yards of concrete, 460 tons of steel bars, 82 miles of post-tension cabling and four miles of striping went into the project.

Richland Mayor Bob Thompson added, “I couldn’t be any happier for the patients and citizens of the entire Tri-City regional area.” The parking garage “benefits not just people in the Tri-Cities, but everyone in the region,” he said.

The garage has about 660 spaces. It’s free for patients and hospital visitors, and it also includes charging stations for electric vehicles.

Bouten Construction Co. was the general contractor.

Construction started last summer. Parking at the hospital off Swift Boulevard was complicated during the process, with the garage built on top of a 140-space lot in front of the Corrado Building.

But staff, patients and visitors were cooperative and understanding, Kadlec officials said.

The parking garage not only will ease the immediate parking crunch, but also accommodate the increased demand expected when Kadlec’s River Pavilion Tower addition opens in the fall, officials said.

The hospital is adding four stories to the tower, which will make it the tallest building in the Richland.

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Tri-Cities first parking garage opening in Richland."