With the words, “I love this project!” Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion presented plans to rebuild the Morris F. deCastro Clinic in Cruz Bay to the St. John community Friday night.
Officials from the Department of Health and Springline Architects, Inc. showed floor plans and designs for a new three-story structure that is part of the Rebuild USVI initiative.
For most of the audience members attending the townhall meeting at the Legislative Annex, it was the first time they’d heard that the building was even being considered for reconstruction.
The Morris F. deCastro Clinic, located next to Frank Powell Park within the Cruz Bay Historic District, was built in 1953. The one-story structure seems to have remained intact even through Hurricane Irma in 2017, but Health officials said the building was more severely impacted than it appears.
An application for Federal reconstruction funds was initially denied, but that decision was overturned, according to Rosalinda Browne, director of project management for the DOH. In 2023, FEMA awarded the territory $17.5 million for the rebuilding project.
Since 1983, the 5,500 sq-foot deCastro Clinic has primarily served as a base for public health services and Emergency Medical Services.
At Friday’s meeting, architect Gilbert Laban presented the plan for the proposed deCastro building to audiences attending the meeting in person, on TV, and on Facebook live.
Because the building is located in the flood plain, the first level must be elevated. The ground floor will provide parking for 12 vehicles and two Emergency Medical Services vehicles, Laban said.
There are no setback requirements for the site zoned as public, according to architect Jerry Traino, but the plans call for the construction of a colonnade along the street to shelter pedestrians from sun and rain.
The main entrance will be along the park side, Traino said. Patients will take the elevator or the stairs to the second floor to receive services. The third floor will be used for administration of the eight divisions that fall under DOH’s scope.
Traino said the architects at Springline “stepped back” the third floor to “soften the façade” of the three-story structure.
The proposed 11,135 sq-foot building will double the amount of space available for services and administration, Encarnacion said, allowing the DOH to expand services for maternal health, dental care, and mental health as well as provide treatment for communicable diseases like HIV.
Encarnacion said the meeting had been scheduled to get feedback on the plans which have not been finalized; DOH still has until 2025 to complete the design and obligate the funds for the new building.
Audience members expressed a range of responses to the plans. Jennifer Williams, who worked in the present deCastro Clinic building for 18 years, said she welcomed the new design.
Others questioned the location for the rebuild, especially as the community is involved in initiatives like Plan Cruz Bay https://stjohnsource.com/2023/06/13/st-john-residents-meet-to-plan-cruz-bay/ and the Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan https://stthomassource.com/content/2024/06/25/st-john-residents-respond-to-proposed-land-and-water-use-plan/, both of which are under development.
As part of these initiatives, community members have been discussing ways to decrease congestion in Cruz Bay, and the idea of constructing a three-story building along the waterfront alarmed some residents.
Kurt Marsh asked if DOH had considered using the space that will become vacant when the Julius E. Sprauve School moves to Estate Catherineberg, something that is anticipated to take place around five years from now.
Traino responded that there would be no guarantee that funding will be available for the project by the time the Sprauve School site opens up. “There’s no clear path for success,” he said.
Meaghan Enright said that under the current emergency plan for St. John, services located at Myrah Keating Smith will be moved to the deCasto Clinic. [The Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Clinic has been functioning as the island’s emergency room and offering routine clinical care since its opening in 1983.]
She asked what provisions had been made for further relocating these services while the deCastro Clinic is under construction.
Encarnacion repeated that the DOH will have a year to work out details like this. She said numerous territorial agencies will need to be consulted to approve the final plan.
Myrtle Barry questioned whether the DOH would be able to pay their WAPA bill for the expanded facility.
Laban said all systems were being designed to be as energy-efficient as possible.
The architects said there were currently no plans to include solar power as part of the new design because the production capacity would be so minimal compared to the demand, but upon further questioning by Donald Schnell, they said they would revisit the idea.
A timeline for the construction of the project was not presented at the meeting, but Browne said structures of this type generally take about 18 months once the construction contract is awarded. FEMA does allow for extensions, she added.
