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Design Review Board approves one‑story MRI addition at Salina Regional Health Center
Summary
On Jan. 23 the Salina Design Review Board approved a certificate of compatibility for a one‑story MRI suite addition on the east facade of Salina Regional Health Center, contingent on staff review of any significant changes.
The Salina Design Review Board approved a certificate of compatibility on Jan. 23 for a one‑story masonry addition that will house a new MRI suite on the east side of Salina Regional Health Center facing Santa Fe Avenue. The board approved the application based on staff findings and with a condition that any significant changes be brought back for review.
Development Services staff told the board the application, submitted on Dec. 6, 2024, proposes a 48‑foot‑6‑inch by 34‑foot single‑story brick addition with a precast stone base to match an existing 1991 patient wing. The addition would contain an MRI suite, ancillary spaces and a recessed entrance with a three‑bay glass storefront; it would be set back 12 feet 4 inches from the Santa Fe Avenue sidewalk and would fill most of an existing courtyard between the hospital boardroom and the imaging suite.
Staff said the proposed exterior materials — brick, cast (precast) stone trim and dark bronze windows and doors — match materials used elsewhere across the hospital campus and that the design remains subordinate to the main structure. “The proposed addition will use materials that are compatible with the surrounding medical hospital building and campus,” staff said during the hearing. The plan calls for decorative precast accent panels consistent with the 1991 addition, and one existing planting bed southeast of the addition appears proposed to be retained though the approved campus landscape plan does not require it.
The board’s zoning review noted that Section 42 to 4, 5 of the hospital medical district zoning code specifies no minimum front yard setback on Santa Fe Avenue; staff said the 12‑foot‑4‑inch setback is therefore consistent with the code. An approved landscape plan for the Salina Regional Health Center campus from 2010 (revised 2011) identifies the courtyard as outdoor dining and does not require plantings in that specific area, meaning no modifications to that plan are required for the addition as proposed. The setback area is intended to be paved and used for a future outdoor sculpture garden; none of the existing patio furniture or courtyard plantings are proposed to be reused.
Staff described four options for the board — approve, approve with conditions, postpone for more information, or deny — and recommended approval with the general condition that significant changes return to staff or the board. After brief clarification from a board member about whether the decorative accent panels match the 1991 addition, the board moved, seconded and voted in favor of the staff‑recommended approval.
Votes at a glance • Certificate of compatibility for MRI addition at Salina Regional Health Center — Approved (motion to approve application based on staff suggested findings, subject to conditions). Vote tally: Yes 3, No 0, Abstain 0. • Approval of previous meeting minutes — Approved. Vote tally: Yes 3, No 0, Abstain 0.
The board had no public commenters on the item. Staff and the hospital representative indicated the project fills a gap between the existing imaging suite and the patient wing and that the design was intended to blend with existing campus materials while being identifiable as new construction. Staff noted that a similar plan had been presented to the board in 2019 but never constructed.
The board also noted administrative items: the board will review exterior plans for the old Ensign building at Santa Fe and Iron at its next meeting in February. With no further business the board adjourned.
