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New San Marco Blvd. Glass Bridge Will Connect Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center

Patience, perseverance and precision prevailed against winds gusting about 25 mph.

DPR construction workers deftly maneuvered a 150-ton glass and steel enclosed walkway bridge Sunday — stretching 124 feet long and weighing roughly the same as a standard unfurnished house — into place above San Marco Boulevard to connect the original Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center with its soon-to-open facility, according to our Florida Times-Union news partner.

They made it look easy — real easy — as a small crowd of curious neighbors joined Baptist Health officials to watch a pair of 450-ton cranes make the final lift and methodically eased the bridge into place on top of two 36,000-pound columns.

“This is a once in a lifetime building from my standpoint. You cannot ask for a more technical building from an architectural standpoint or a structural standpoint,” said Scott Gibbs, DPR Construction superintendent, who is in charge of the bridge project.

“You’re not going to see a building quite like this. ...” said Gibbs, a 19-year veteran construction professional with a degree in building science. “It’s definitely something that stands out in San Marco. Definitely stands out in Jacksonville and in my opinion, the Southeast as a whole.”

Hugh Greene, Baptist Health president and chief executive officer, described the bridge “as one more milestone as we move toward the opening of the new Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center.”

The new facility is across San Marco Boulevard from the existing Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, which opened in October 2015.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, headquartered in Houston, is the most highly rated cancer treatment facility in the nation. Baptist Health in Jacksonville is among five major medical centers nationwide partnering with MD Anderson, and is the only one in Florida.

“It’s really transformative for our community in terms of care for patients and their family. So, I like to think this bridge is sort of a symbolic representation of another step in the journey to opening the center,” Greene said.

Costing about $150 million, the new 332,000 square foot facility is expected to open late this summer. The center will mirror the highly coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to care pioneered by founder MD Anderson, Greene said.

Greene said there also will be a community park featuring an original brightly colored sculpture being created for the cancer center. It’s intended as a gift for the San Marco community, he said.

“We’re calling it Hope Park. The sculpture will be installed sometimes in June,” he said. Everyone of those steps brings them closer to the center’s opening, he said.

You can read a longer version of this story at The Florida Times-Union's website.