• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Children's Hospital Gets $25 Million From Campbell Soup Heir

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 18:00 CDT

By Linda Loyd, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jun. 2--Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced today a $25 million gift from Campbell Soup heir Tristram C. Colket Jr., and his wife, Ruth M. Colket, to build an eight-story $400 million research building on the site of the former Philadelphia Civic Center.

Construction has already begun on the 558,000-square foot building which will house basic science and research laboratories. It is part of a 10-year, $1.5 billion expansion program announced in 2001 by Children's Hospital to double the size of hospital's main campus on Civic Center Boulevard in West Philadelphia.

The Colkets, of Paoli, are members of the hospital board of trustees and have given more than $35 million to Children's Hospital over the years. The Colkets were honored at a ceremonial groundbreaking today in the first phase of development by the hospital on the eight-acre former Civic Center parcel, now called the South Campus Research Complex.

"With more than 30 years of support, Ruth and Tristram Colket have given more than $35 million to help ensure that Children's Hospital remains the preeminent pediatric institution in this country and the world," said Steven M. Altschuler, Children's Hospital president and chief executive officer.

"Ruth and Tristram Colket's recent gift of $25 million has given an enormous boost to the advancement of research," said Altschuler, "which will help to fund our new research building on our south campus."

The hospital's atrium bears the Colkets' name, as does the lobby of the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center. The Colkets have also funded research through two endowed chairs, for pediatric surgery and pediatric nursing.

Tristram Colket Jr.'s father, Tristram Sr., was married to a Dorrance whose family founded Campbell Soup, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The new research building, which will allow scientists to explore genomics and new treatments for cancer and other diseases, is scheduled to be completed in spring 2009.

Hospital officials said the eight-story building can expand to 22 stories with equipment and technology aimed at advancing medicine and attracting top researchers.

The South Campus is located directly across the street from the main Children's Hospital. The complex, estimated at $845 million and more than 1 million square feet, will contain the research building, a utility plant serving the entire Children's Hospital, underground parking and parking garage, ambulatory building with outpatient care, day medicine, day surgery and imaging.

As part of the expansion, the South Tower with seven patient floors and a larger emergency department is already completed. So is the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center with 10 additional floors of laboratories.

The hospital's exterior renovation, 95 percent of which has been completed, includes a covered drop-off area for patients and families.

Construction continues on the West Tower to expand the newborn and infant center, operation rooms and clinical labs, with phased-in occupancy starting this year through 2009, hospital officials said.

Contact staff writer Linda Loyd at 215-854-2831 or lloyd@phillynews.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:CPB,

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

More News in this Category