Green canvas begins transformation of medical district

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg faced an audience of city and hospital leaders on a grass-colored section of Doughty Street by the Medical University of South Carolina and declared, “This is the greening of Charleston, and a great thing for our city.”

He spoke today at the kickoff celebration for the Charleston Medical District Greenway, which will transform an area used by patients, visitors and employees of the three medical campuses that border it: MUSC, Roper Hospital and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. 

Doughty Street permanently closed to cars and trucks on Nov. 8 between President and Ehrhardt streets. That section has been painted green to symbolize the grass that will be planted there. 

Trees in huge planters with lights in their branches line the street. They’ll go in the ground after the asphalt is removed, but for now they give the area a holiday glow after sunset. Chairs and tables — green, of course — have been set up to give people a taste of what the area will ultimately look like.

MUSC President David Cole put it this way at today’s celebration. “Where we sit right now is not the endpoint. To me, it’s a canvas. We have the opportunity to fill that canvas in as a community. We have the opportunity to envision what this can become as it moves forward. The work is not done.”

It won’t be done for a while. After the grass and trees go in, they’ll be followed by permanent outdoor seating and some covered areas for shade. The idea is to turn the space into an environment that is relaxing and welcoming where people can sit, talk, eat and enjoy the outdoors. The plan is to finish this part of the greenway by 2019 when the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital opens.

Cole, who is a surgeon, said it’s important for the healing atmosphere of hospitals to extend to the surrounding area. “From an MUSC perspective, one of our five strategic goals is building healthy communities. We have to be intentional and shoulder into that.” 

Building healthy communities under the MUSC plan involves encouraging healthy lifestyles, preventive care and treatment based on research showing it works.

The transformation of Doughty Street isn’t the only change in the works to improve the atmosphere in the medical district. The city will “calm” traffic on Courtenay Street, which will remain open to vehicles but become more pedestrian friendly. And Courtenay could extend across Calhoun Street to Alberta Long Lake, connecting to Fourth Street and continuing on to Lockwood Drive near the Charleston City Marina. The idea is to make it easier for people to move from West Edge, The Citadel, Hampton Park and Wagener Terrace through the Medical District Greenway to Long Lake Park, Colonial Lake and on to the Battery.

The idea for the greenway came about a few years ago when Cole proposed it to leaders at Roper Hospital, who were about to build a parking deck off Doughty Street. They agreed to come up with another parking solution and move forward with the greenway. The VA Medical Center and city of Charleston were soon on board, too.

Felissa Koernig, assistant director of the VA Medical Center, reminded the crowd how big the impact of the greenway could be. “As the second fastest-growing VA in the United States, with more than 75,000 veterans in our care, we understand the pressing need to balance more clinical space with an environment that promotes healing, healthy lifestyles and community engagement.”

Tecklenburg said, to applause, that the greenway will encourage everyone to walk more and drive less. “There are no cars here right now because the thought is we need to learn, as a community, to get around by other ways than just driving a car all the time. This is a big step in that direction.”