St Luke’s, Once and Future – Planning Meeting Tonight

Why, what’s this graceful, fine looking building?

Why, it’s St. Luke’s Hospital in 1920 (from Valencia and Duncan).

Same perspective today.

The cathedral is still there, but locked behind an attractive, never-opened iron gate.

And we’ve seen the less than attractive Cesar Chavez frontage.

So what’s the plan for St. Luke’s?  Big planning meeting tonight at 6:30, 2nd floor cafeteria.

Here’s the layout today:

And here’s CPMC’s proposed plan – a new tower on the doctor’s parking lot, and a replacement for the existing tower on the corner.

My biggest issue with this is the complete lack of street facing access — it does nothing to open up Valencia and Cesar Chavez, and pushes the “ass-end” of the hospital up to the houses on Guerrero.

St. Lukes can be better than this. CPMC can do better than this. Can you really imagine a pregnant mother walking around on Valencia and Cesar Chavez?

Oh, and we are not enraged NIMBYs who are being turned into pawns of CPMC.  I live a block away and I like St. Luke’s — just make it more friendly to the neighborhood, especially with all the effort going into redesigning Cesar Chavez.  Don’t make Cesar Chavez like the soulless Safeway wall on San Jose. Making a safer, better, more accessible design doesn’t mean shutting it down as certain groups would like people to believe.

So before you head over to Dog Eared Books and learn about robot detection and listen to the sweet sounds of the Yellow Dress and the Fancy Dan band, get yourself to the 2nd floor cafe at St. Luke’s at 6:30 tonight — be there, and be willing to talk. We can do better.