Business

Major Projects Showcase Region's Growth as Business, Residential Center

The new St. Luke’s Magic Valley Regional Medical Center should open in mid-2010.

If the sights and sounds of new construction are any indicator‚ Southern Idaho is a region on the move.

Major building projects run the gamut from a new high school‚ hospital and LDS temple in Twin Falls to residential and commercial projects throughout the area. And whether the building boom is in response to current demand or in anticipation of further growth‚ it all points to good times ahead.

One highly visible project is the new Twin Falls Idaho Temple‚ a long-planned facility scheduled to open in April 2008. When completed‚ this will be the fourth Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in the state‚ says Terry McCurdy‚ spokesperson for the church in Southern Idaho.

“Right now the LDS members in the Magic Valley area are traveling to Boise‚ so it will be really nice to have a temple right here at home‚” McCurdy says. “It also will bring a lot of people to Twin Falls who have been going to other places‚ and it will become more of a hub for these folks.”

Also under way is a new multimillion-dollar hospital that should open in mid-2010. The 600‚000-square-foot building sits on a 40-acre site‚ and will be operated by St. Luke’s Health System‚ the entity formed in 2006 with the partnership between the Magic Valley Regional Medical Center and St. Luke’s Boise Regional Medical Center.

The new hospital will feature 174 private rooms‚ expanded emergency room space and other amenities that are important to the population it serves‚ says Kent Loosle‚ the hospital’s chief operating officer.

“One of the things we focused on was patient privacy‚” Loosle says. “One way we did that was to have all private rooms and separation between the public and patient corridors. We also wanted to make sure we had adequate emergency room space and adequate space for future growth.”

The hospital campus will include a diagnostic and treatment building‚ cancer center and medical office building‚ all of which will be connected‚ easing traffic flow for patients‚ staff and visitors.

“Having all of our services together is very important for us as we work to meet community needs. This will be a great thing for the Twin Falls community and all of Magic Valley‚” Loosle says.

The Twin Falls School District also is in the mix‚ with the new Canyon Ridge High School set to open in 2009. The district serves around 7‚400 students‚ and the new building will be its second high school.

“Our enrollment has been growing‚ so it’s really in response to the increased population‚” says Dale Thornsberry‚ facilities manager.

Should more schools be needed‚ the district stands ready‚ as it owns several parcels of property around town that can be used for new schools.

“We’re taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude‚ but we’re ready to go if we need to‚” Thornsberry says.

Add to all this two new schools in Jerome and subdivisions popping up throughout the area‚ and it’s easy to see why economic development officials are very happy these days. For Jan Rogers‚ executive director of the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization‚ it’s proof that once people visit the Magic Valley‚ they want to come back – and stay.

“Everywhere you look‚ we’re expanding‚” Rogers says. “We’ve always known we can be successful‚ because we have a great product. I just don’t know of another place in the United States that has such a balance between opportunities for both work and play. I call Southern Idaho the ‘Shangri-la of the West.’”

“I joke with people that in the three years I’ve been with the chamber‚ we’ve had five ribbon cuttings for new banks or new bank branches and five for new churches‚” adds Shawn Barigar‚ president and CEO of the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. “You must be doing something right if the banks and the churches are expanding.”

Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Jeff Adkins

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