Atrium Hospital in Cornelius

July 18. By Dave Vieser. Renderings of the new Atrium Cornelius Hospital will be unveiled during a special presentation tonight at the Town Board meeting.

Atrium has already received a Certificate of Need for a 160,000 square-foot hospital with 30 beds on 97 acres—the former Augustalee property—on the west side of Statesville Road (Hwy. 21) south of the intersection with Bailey Road.

The hospital project is valued at more than $150 million.

Rezoning needed

Atrium, operating as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, is asking to rezone approximately 28 acres of the 97-acre parcel.

The plans call for a 282,000 square foot hospital along with medical office buildings and accessory facilities. The maximum building height will be 120 feet and the authority seeks to rezone the site for conditional zoning.

Town officials are hopeful that the addition of the hospital will enhance the possibility of adding a new exit on I-77 at Westmoreland Road in order to facilitate access to and from the medical facility.

The site is currently vacant, but less than 20 years ago the property was a farm.

CMS superintendent

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh will provide an update as well. He was chosen to temporarily lead the district after Ernest Winston was fired by the School Board earlier this year. Hattabaugh will be accompanied by Dr. Tangela Williams and Dr. Crystal Hill.

Meeting details

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 pm.

The meeting will also be available online via the town web site: www.cornelius.org. Access the link to “watch meetings online.”

While details of the proposal will be provided, no decisions on the rezoning are expected as the applicant must still conduct a community meeting, as well as project review by the town Planning Board, prior to the public hearing required by the Town Board.