Cleveland Clinic marks construction milestone
The final steel beam is being raised into place during the topping off ceremony at the Cleveland Clinic's Innovation District. The beam is for a skybridge, which will connect two buildings that total about 300,000 square feet and are being built under a Project Labor Agreement through the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council.
An affiliated member of the Cleveland Building Trades signs one of the final two steel beams prior to the topping off ceremony for a skybridge that connects two new buildings in the Cleveland Clinic's Innovation District.
An Aug. 19 topping off ceremony marked a major milestone in the construction of two Cleveland Clinic research buildings in the Cleveland Innovation District.
The ceremonial beam-lifting event celebrated the placement of the two final steel beams in the skyway bridge that spans E. 100th Street, connecting the new facilities.
Prior to the beams being secured to the bridge, Cleveland Clinic leaders and researchers signed the beams, sharing messages of hope about the future of research. Members of the construction
crew also signed the beams.
Construction of both buildings began in February 2023 under a Project Labor Agreement with the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council.
According to Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary/Business Manager Dave Wondolwoski, about 400 jobs for affiliated building trades members would be created thanks to the PLA.
The project represents a significant expansion of laboratory research space at the Clinic’s Main Campus. The two new two buildings, located at the intersection of E. 100th Street and Cedar Avenue, will total 300,000 square feet.
The northeast building is approximately 170,000 square feet and home to a variety of research laboratories, including the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Global Center for Pathogen and Human Health Research.
The northwest building is about 120,000 square feet and is designed for specialty research facilities and core services.
Designed to foster innovation and collaboration, the facilities will feature advanced research laboratories, dedicated classroom space, offices and a café.
Additionally, there is enhanced greenspace, landscaping and walking paths that will offer a new entrance to the southeast section of the Clinic’s Main Campus.
The facilities are part of the Cleveland Innovation District, a unique public-private initiative that brings the State of Ohio and JobsOhio together with Cleveland’s healthcare and higher education institutions to create jobs, accelerate research and educate the workforce of the future.
“For more than 100 years, Cleveland Clinic has been at the forefront of scientific discovery,” said Serpil Erzurum, M.D., Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Research and Academic Officer. “These state-of-the-art facilities will provide the infrastructure and technology needed to continue growing Cleveland Clinic’s research efforts. They will serve as a vital resource for our research team, empowering them to discover and develop critically needed new treatments.”
As part of the recent research expansion, the Cleveland Clinic opened 45,000 square feet of remodeled space in late 2023 that houses leading-edge laboratories.
Several of Cleveland Clinic’s fastest-growing research programs are housed in this space, including the Center for Computational Life Sciences, Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-oncology and The Center for Therapeutics Discovery.
The two new buildings were designed by Cleveland Clinic Buildings + Design in collaboration with HOK Architects and Vanderweil Engineers. The construction manager is Gilbane Building.
Work on the northeast building should wrap up in November, while the anticipated completion date for the northwest building is March 2026.