ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - KVC and St. Louis Children's Hospital continue to press forward with plans to revamp a pediatric mental health campus in Webster Groves.
Earlier this past summer, St. Louis Children's Hospital and KVC Missouri announced plans for a pediatric mental health campus in Webster Groves.
The campus, which would be built over the next two years, would create a 70-bed hospital and inpatient center to care for children with mental health disorders. KVC Missouri and St. Louis Children's Hospital want to build it on the site of a current day school run by KVC.
However, proposal has been received with skepticism by some neighbors in an adjacent residential area.
KMOX News spoke to Trish Lollo, president of St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Lindsey Stephenson, president of KVC Missouri on Tuesday about the concerns of the project from residents, and where things stand heading into the new year.
According to KVC and St. Louis Children's Hospital, at the end of November, they were able to receive unanimous approval from the Webster Groves Plan Commission, and that means in January, the Webster Groves City Council will vote on rezoning land in a residential area for the pediatric mental health campus.
Stephenson and Lollo say since they previously talked to KMOX News in October, KVC and Children's Hospital have listened to concerns and feedback from residents and community members, and even made changes based on a traffic study.
"We took a lot of that feedback to heart, had a independent third-party do an overview of our traffic study in which we ended up changing an entrance to proposed project based on some additional feedback," said Lollo. "We continue to a lot of work and try to educate and communicate with people just the facts about the plan."
Lollo and Stephenson reaffirmed their previous comments to KMOX News and that they are confident in their safety plan.
"KVC has other facilities like this and have virtually no issues with some of the concerns that people have expressed in the past," said Stephenson. "We feel confident moving forward. Safety and security are always at the top of mind for us for the kids that we served, for our staff, for our team and also for the communities in which we live."
We feel confident that concerns of the past are not going to be concerns for the future."
Michael Garcia, who has been acting as the spokesman for residents opposed to the project, also spoke to KMOX News on Tuesday and says while they are glad KVC and Children's Hospital are listening, but he and the group still feels "the project was rushed."
"This was not considered originally, and why wasn't this traffic study done initially," said Garcia. "I understand this traffic study resulted in a F rating for the site of that entrance, but this was after they tore down all the trees and started to build the road."
"So it just putting the cart before the horse, not putting the full fault into the overall picture here."
Garcia also reaffirmed that the group also want an open, honest conversation about safety with KVC and Children's Hospital.
"I've never once spoke to someone from KVC or Children's Hospital," said Garcia, "They have never approached us. Our understanding is that they have reached out to a different neighborhood group, with several of the board members in that group are city council members."
"That has been the avenue that they have taken, not to reach out to the neighbors that directly surround the site."