Ground breaks on Sparrow Plaza, Herbert-Herman Cancer Center

Published: May 15, 2015

Today, Sparrow broke ground on the Sparrow Plaza, a new four-story building located centrally on the Sparrow Campus along Michigan Avenue.

Designed with the future in mind, this flexible space can easily be adapted to next-generation technologies and will be home to the new Herbert-Herman Cancer Center and other services as we streamline Patient care.

With the help of the Herbert and Herman families, organizations such as Women Working Wonders (W3) and partners like Auto-Owners Insurance, the Dart Foundation and MSU Federal Credit Union, we are creating a new space designed to support the unique collaborative teams of specialists at Sparrow - all in a new healthy, healing, and Patient-centered environment.

A portion of the building will feature a Green Roof deck and an environmentally friendly design offering our visitors a healing garden view through the South windows. A central courtyard area to the north, generously funded through community support of W3, will provide a place for our Patients, visitors and Caregivers to rest and revitalize.

The project will also include a new multi-level parking structure adjacent to the Plaza Building adding approximately 600 parking spaces, providing greater accessibility for visitors and offering reserved parking for Cancer Center Patients.

Preliminary site preparation is underway and the project is expected to be complete in early 2017.

The Cancer Center campaign has raised more than $6.5 million in support of this project to date. The naming of the new Cancer Center recognizes the gifts from the James and Judith Herbert Family of Lansing, and the James and Susan Herman Family of East Lansing. It represents one of the most significant contributions since founder Edward W. Sparrow donated $100,000 and the land upon which the main hospital still stands.

“A hospital is not only a place of treatment; a hospital is a community of caring,” said Stella Cash, Vice President of Development and Strategic Partnerships at Sparrow. “At Sparrow, the very walls that we build, and the care that we provide within them, are testaments to the importance of giving and the deeply rooted value of philanthropy in our community’s history.”

Sparrow has undertaken a significant investment in the community, more than $285 million in construction and information technology projects over a five-year period, as we continue to transform care, implement best practices, and deliver nationally recognized care. The philanthropic support of individuals, corporations and organizations is a valued part of these investments.

Choose Wisely. Choose Sparrow.