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OSF dedicates new St. Mary Medical Center entrance and lobby

Sister Judith Ann Duvall was there when the current OSF Saint Mary Medical Center was built in 1974.

And, Duvall — Chair of the OSF HealthCare Board of the Directors — was there for Thursday’s dedication of a new main entrance and lobby area.

Duvall remembers being skeptical in the 70’s of the North Seminary Street location of the current hospital, after decades of being downtown.

“After extensive study, the hospital made a bold, a very bold move, to construct a new facility on what they considered to be far beyond the city limits of Galesburg’s west side, off of North Seminary Street,” says Duvall. “I remember when that decision was made. I said, ‘out where? Near what?’ And yet, that planning was so effective.”

And, Duvall says, continues to be. The $2.2 million rebuilding of the main entrance is just a small part of some $30 million in improvements planned for the site in the coming years.

The construction of the new lobby resulted in the discovery of a time capsule placed behind a plaque marking the building of the current hospital in 1974. That capsule was unearthed, but hospital CEO Roxanna Crosser says a new one will be buried in its place.

“We thought it was appropriate to put two 2017 pennies — since there were two 1974 pennies. So, we did that,” says Crosser. “Also, [there will be] many, many pictures of different events we’ve had throughout the years, also different pins such as our 1877 pin, and our saint pin, and our one OSF pin.”

That’s in addition to other items Crosser says are similar to what was in the 1974 time capsule.

The new main lobby area has LED lighting and is energy-efficient, and was built to try and protect from gusty winds.

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