Helipad

LIBERTY - The majority of the Liberty City Council approved a new helipad to be located near the new Casey County Hospital on Wednesday evening after hearing opposition from two local residents who live near the site. County Surveyor Richard Montgomery asked the council members to go on record stating they were for or against the helipad, and after much discussion, the council approved the construction of the helipad. Montgomery said the city is losing its tax base because of property the hospital has purchased for the new facility and by putting the helipad in the residential area.

LIBERTY - Casey County Surveyor Richard Montgomery called the proposed helipad at the local hospital the "worst example of planning and spending public money in this county. "It will destroy the neighborhood and eliminate the city's tax base with no mention on how to make up the loss," said Montgomery, who lives near the hospital. "At worst, it is uncaring, unethical with some of the actions bordering on criminal. " He voiced his opposition Monday to Fiscal Court about the helipad being placed on the Casey County Hospital property off Montgomery and Wolford streets.

LIBERTY - The site plan for the new Casey County Hospital appears to be in order. Representatives of the hospital, Parsons Corp. and JRA & Associates reviewed plans for drainage, lighting and a helipad Wednesday with the City Council. Jack Lowe, project manager, said the new facility will be up and running before the current hospital is demolished. He said a helipad will be located at the site and will be built to state regulations. Lighting of the area will not be in use unless a helicopter is landing.

Dear Editor, I am all for the beautification of our town and am in favor of cleaning up the historical area also, but I was very concerned several weeks ago when the historical committee wanted to annex the hospital and Methodist church. I can understand the church, but feel that Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center should have not been included. Now we run into the problem with the committee not wanting a parcel of land behind the hospital to be used as a heliport for serious patients to be transferred immediately to another institution.

It will be at least another month before the Danville Architectural Review Board decides whether to allow Ephraim McDowell Health to tear down the former Advocate-Messenger building to make room for a helipad. On Wednesday, the board tabled a decision on the hospital's request to raze the vacant building near the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets. In the meantime, the hospital will study the possibility of removing only the newer, rear portion of the building. McDowell obtained a permit to demolish the building on the same day that Danville City Commission approved an expansion of the downtown historic district to include much of McDowell's property.

Two words: golden minutes. Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center says that's why it wants to demolish the old Advocate-Messenger building on Walnut Street and build a helipad. Medical helicopters currently take off and land on the Kentucky School for the Deaf campus about a block from the hospital, but officials say that's too far away. "At present, we have to move patients from the aircraft to an ambulance and transport them to the ER where they must be unloaded again," said Harry Nickens, McDowell's vice president for community relations.

We will admit some mild sentiment with respect to the proposed razing of what has become known as "the old Advocate building" at the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in Danville. This newspaper is in its 144th year, and while not all of those years were in that building, some of our current and former staff members spent a significant amount of time there, moving just a couple of blocks to the current location in October 1985. We aren't so sentimental, however, that we are ready to take a position against its destruction, ostensibly for the purpose of providing a helipad on a lot at street level outside the emergency room at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.

LIBERTY - A controversy between the City Council and Casey County Hospital Board continued Wednesday night when the council discussed a request to permanently close Office Street. Mayor Steve Sweeney told the hospital board last year that there would be no problem in closing the street, but informed the hospital earlier this month that the board never formally made the request to close the street, which dead ends off Montgomery Street and runs between Wolford and Sanders streets.

Dear Editor, I read with interest the story about helicopters and Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center. Instead of razing a historic building, why not land on the hospital? Think about the University of Louisville Medical Center and the University of Kentucky Medical Center. There you would be ? right in the hospital ? put'em on a gurney and whoosh'em in the door. The hospital just built an addition, did it not? Didn't anyone think during the planning stages to incorporate a helipad then?

Members of the Danville Architectural Review Board who oppose plans to tear down the former Advocate-Messenger building on the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets got some support for their case this week. A representative from the Kentucky Heritage Council said he believes the building qualifies for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. At last month's ARB meeting, Ephraim McDowell Health requested permission to tear down the building to make room for a new helipad.

We will admit some mild sentiment with respect to the proposed razing of what has become known as "the old Advocate building" at the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in Danville. This newspaper is in its 144th year, and while not all of those years were in that building, some of our current and former staff members spent a significant amount of time there, moving just a couple of blocks to the current location in October 1985. We aren't so sentimental, however, that we are ready to take a position against its destruction, ostensibly for the purpose of providing a helipad on a lot at street level outside the emergency room at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.

It will be at least another month before the Danville Architectural Review Board decides whether to allow Ephraim McDowell Health to tear down the former Advocate-Messenger building to make room for a helipad. On Wednesday, the board tabled a decision on the hospital's request to raze the vacant building near the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets. In the meantime, the hospital will study the possibility of removing only the newer, rear portion of the building. McDowell obtained a permit to demolish the building on the same day that Danville City Commission approved an expansion of the downtown historic district to include much of McDowell's property.

Members of the Danville Architectural Review Board who oppose plans to tear down the former Advocate-Messenger building on the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets got some support for their case this week. A representative from the Kentucky Heritage Council said he believes the building qualifies for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. At last month's ARB meeting, Ephraim McDowell Health requested permission to tear down the building to make room for a new helipad.

Dear Editor, I am all for the beautification of our town and am in favor of cleaning up the historical area also, but I was very concerned several weeks ago when the historical committee wanted to annex the hospital and Methodist church. I can understand the church, but feel that Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center should have not been included. Now we run into the problem with the committee not wanting a parcel of land behind the hospital to be used as a heliport for serious patients to be transferred immediately to another institution.

Dear Editor, I read with interest the story about helicopters and Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center. Instead of razing a historic building, why not land on the hospital? Think about the University of Louisville Medical Center and the University of Kentucky Medical Center. There you would be ? right in the hospital ? put'em on a gurney and whoosh'em in the door. The hospital just built an addition, did it not? Didn't anyone think during the planning stages to incorporate a helipad then?

Two words: golden minutes. Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center says that's why it wants to demolish the old Advocate-Messenger building on Walnut Street and build a helipad. Medical helicopters currently take off and land on the Kentucky School for the Deaf campus about a block from the hospital, but officials say that's too far away. "At present, we have to move patients from the aircraft to an ambulance and transport them to the ER where they must be unloaded again," said Harry Nickens, McDowell's vice president for community relations.

LIBERTY - The majority of the Liberty City Council approved a new helipad to be located near the new Casey County Hospital on Wednesday evening after hearing opposition from two local residents who live near the site. County Surveyor Richard Montgomery asked the council members to go on record stating they were for or against the helipad, and after much discussion, the council approved the construction of the helipad. Montgomery said the city is losing its tax base because of property the hospital has purchased for the new facility and by putting the helipad in the residential area.

LIBERTY - Casey County Surveyor Richard Montgomery called the proposed helipad at the local hospital the "worst example of planning and spending public money in this county. "It will destroy the neighborhood and eliminate the city's tax base with no mention on how to make up the loss," said Montgomery, who lives near the hospital. "At worst, it is uncaring, unethical with some of the actions bordering on criminal. " He voiced his opposition Monday to Fiscal Court about the helipad being placed on the Casey County Hospital property off Montgomery and Wolford streets.

LIBERTY - A controversy between the City Council and Casey County Hospital Board continued Wednesday night when the council discussed a request to permanently close Office Street. Mayor Steve Sweeney told the hospital board last year that there would be no problem in closing the street, but informed the hospital earlier this month that the board never formally made the request to close the street, which dead ends off Montgomery Street and runs between Wolford and Sanders streets.

LIBERTY - The site plan for the new Casey County Hospital appears to be in order. Representatives of the hospital, Parsons Corp. and JRA & Associates reviewed plans for drainage, lighting and a helipad Wednesday with the City Council. Jack Lowe, project manager, said the new facility will be up and running before the current hospital is demolished. He said a helipad will be located at the site and will be built to state regulations. Lighting of the area will not be in use unless a helicopter is landing.