PHILADELPHIA – The large tower crane at the construction site of Penn Medicine’s new, state-of-the-art hospital, the Pavilion, will be disassembled and removed from the grounds on the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania campus beginning Dec. 20, 2019. In order to safely break down and transport the crane which has been a crucial part of construction for the 1.5 million square foot building, West Philadelphia’s Convention Avenue will be closed from Civic Center Boulevard to Health Sciences Drive beginning the evening of Friday, Dec.20. The closure will remain in effect until Sunday, January 5, 2020.
Drivers visiting Penn Medicine’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, the Smilow Center for Transitional Research, and other area buildings will be required to take a detour loop that will extend along Health Sciences Drive out to South Street and return back to 34th street.
Patients and visitors driving to nearby facilities are asked to allocate extra time for arrival and departure from campus.
33rd Street between Convention Avenue and South Street will also be closed. The 33rd Street SEPTA bus service will move to the opposite corner at 33rd and South Street directly in front of Franklin Field. Additionally, East Service Drive will change direction from southbound one way to northbound one way to create room for CHOP emergency vehicles.
What: Convention Avenue Road Closure
When: Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 through Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020
Where: Convention Avenue from Civic Center Boulevard to Health Sciences Drive
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.