Hospital details still in the works for village

A new Brooks-TLC Hospital is likely to be discussed next month.
A proposed Sonic restaurant drive-in is on the Fredonia Planning Board’s agenda Wednesday while plans for a new Brooks-TLC Hospital could come next month.
Kaleida Health System was on the agenda to present a sketch review of the new facility, slated for East Main Street in Fredonia. That presentation, however, has been put on hold until at least April.
That means the board is set to consider site planning approval for the new Sonic at 10387 Bennett Road. It is the site of Lucky Lanes. When originally proposed in October, it was reported that the restaurant will be built on part of the bowling alley’s parking lot.
As for the Brooks-TLC project, the revised plans are another step in a process that is nearing a decade in length.
“The team’s top priority is to design a hospital that provides the best patient experience. There’s been great progress, but the design teams need more time to refine the site plan and renderings based on stakeholder feedback,” said Ken Morris, president and chief executive officer at Brooks-TLC, this week. “This includes adjustments for the Medical Office Building, which is a significant addition from the original plan.
“Also, site work continues to advance by addressing water drainage on the property as well as the removal of the grapes to support the (Medical Office Building) addition at the site. Representatives will be present in April to share plans and address any questions.”
New York state unveiled $74 million in funding for the hospital in April 2016, but it got held up for years. Gov. Kathy Hochul finally said in June that Brooks-TLC Hospital System and its partners Kaleida Health can access the funding.
Since that announcement, the price tag of the new facility is likely to be more than $100 million. A new 60,000-square-foot Lockport Memorial Hospital, which is part of the Catholic Health System, was $70 million to build when it was completed in October 2023. Kaleida has indicated the price tag remains unknown. “Costs are different than they were seven years ago,” said Rob Bragg, vice president of campus development at Kaleida Health, last August.
The Fredonia Planning Board ought to be quite familiar with plans for the hospital, having looked through several variations of them. The planning board originally approved a site plan in 2019, then gave it a series of extensions.
There was recently the first small but tangible sign of construction at the East Main Street site, a former Cornell grape farm. The old grape vines were torn out.
The Fredonia Planning Board meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in Fredonia Village Hall’s second-floor boardroom.
Editor John D’Agostino contributed to this report.