Correction: The expansion and new stadium at North Little Rock High School will cost an estimated $93.6 million, according to Baldwin & Shell Construction Co., $3.6 million more than the $90 million CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock. An article in Friday’s editions incorrectly identified the largest construction project under way in central Arkansas.
The 170,000-square-foot, $90 million CARTI Cancer Center will be able to treat as many as 800 patients a day when it opens in Little Rock next fall, the center's chief executive officer said Thursday.
"On a busy day, we'll be able to see about 800 patients in the building," said Jan Burford, who has headed the nonprofit network of private cancer care specialists in the state for 20 years. "On an average day, we'll see maybe 500."
The four-story building -- the largest building construction project underway in central Arkansas -- is being built at 8901 Riley Road, which is south of Interstate 630 off John Barrow Road.
The goal for the center to be as close as possible to a one-stop facility for cancer patients, Burford said.
Some of the patients may be at the center for eight hours, some may stay an hour or less, said Craig Comish, chief operating officer for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute.
"We wanted [to build the building] because it will be a single location and patients will know where they are going," Comish said.
The biggest complaint for cancer patients is fatigue, not pain, Burford said.
"So anything we can do to make that journey easier on them, we want to do," Burford said.
The CARTI Cancer Center will offer medical, surgical and radiation oncology, as well as diagnostic radiology and hematology services. Other services include imaging, infusion, research, pharmacy and support programs.
Cancer surgery is one of the few treatments that won't be provided at the center, Burford said.
Much of the fourth floor will provide scenic views of downtown Little Rock and west Little Rock.
"When you think of people who come for treatments for hours, they can relax with the views," Burford said.
CARTI has 470 employees throughout the state. The new building will not increase that number but will provide a central site for many of those workers, Burford said. There are about 25 physicians who will work out of the new center, she said.
More than 4 million pounds of steel will be used in construction of the building.
There is a scarcity of steel for projects in central Arkansas, said James Harkins, a partner with Flake & Kelley Commercial. Flake & Kelley is acting as a construction manager of the project with the Little Rock office of Colliers International.
"Steel is definitely in demand," Harkins said.
Nabholz Construction, the general contractor of the CARTI Cancer Center, also will use the equivalent of 50 million pounds of concrete and 400 miles of electrical cable. About 50,000 cubic yards of dirt -- the equivalent of 15 Olympic-size swimming pools -- was removed to level the site.
The concrete walls of the radiation therapy rooms will be 8 feet thick.
CARTI already provides chemotherapy treatment at sites in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Benton, Clinton, Conway, El Dorado, Heber Springs, Monticello, Russellville and Stuttgart. Radiation therapy is offered in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Conway, Mountain Home and Searcy.
The satellite sites outside Little Rock will remain open after the new building is completed.
Business on 09/26/2014