Rock Row’s Medical & Research Campus will be the newest and most advanced integrated medical campus in New England. (Rock Row rendering)
Rock Row, a $600 million, 110-acre mixed-use development in Westbrook, Maine, west of Portland, already has retail operations like REI, Market Basket, Chik Fil-A, Starbucks and a Chase branch.
Now a second major component is on its way to completion, which is expected to open in 2024.
Rock Row reached a key milestone June 1 with a topping off ceremony at its Medical & Research Campus when workers at the site lifted the tallest and last steel beam of the main building onto to the top of the frame.
Landry/French Construction in Scarborough is managing the medical center project, which has been estimated to cost $150 million, Mainebiz reported.
As part of the Rock Row Medical & Research Campus topping off, attendees affixed their signatures to the last steel beam before it was hoisted into place.
The lead tenant at the medical facility will be New England Cancer Specialists, which serves patients in Maine and New Hampshire, but the Rock Row developer said it will be joined by a Westbrook branch of the Dempsey Center, founded in 2008 by actor Patrick Dempsey, who was born in Lewiston and grew up in Turner and Buckfield. That provider also has other locations in South Portland and Lewiston.
"As we celebrate this topping out, we're not just celebrating a construction milestone," said Josh Levy, principal of Waterstone Properties Group, the developers of Rock Row. "We're celebrating a vision brought to life through your input and our shared commitment to creating a vibrant community that effortlessly balances productivity and leisure, nature, and neighborhood — for a life lived better."
The goal of the Dempsey Center is to offer holistic programs and support to people affected by cancer, according to Mainebiz.
"Rock Row kicks off an exciting next chapter for the Dempsey Center, allowing us to serve even more individuals in a beautiful and easily accessible location that is surrounded by nature as well as other health and well-being providers," explained Tim Griffin, board chair of the Dempsey Center.
"We are thrilled to be a part of this community and look forward to opening our new doors in 2024 to complement our Lewiston location and our hospitality home in Portland."
When the Rock Row medical facility opens next year, the center will join New England Cancer Specialists, the largest medical oncology group and leading provider of cancer care in the region, as well as RAYUS Radiology and Saco Bay Physical Therapy.
The medical campus is expected to offer an array of integrated health services that are intended to deliver a more holistic approach to treating patients, the developer told Mainebiz.
The facility is designed with significant patient input, aims to bring its guests closer to nature by preserving the natural, wooded setting along Nason Brook, and add features such as outdoor infusion bays — a first for Maine — as well as a healing garden, and convenient access to the new trail network in the area.
"As we looked at the current health care landscape, we saw an opportunity to collaboratively reimagine and distinguish the cancer care experience with our patients," noted Edwin T. Graham, CEO of New England Cancer Specialists.
"We envisioned an environment where research could thrive, leading-edge treatments and pioneering trials could make a significant impact, and our patients could continue to receive exceptional care from Dana Farber-affiliated physicians right in their backyard."
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