The 16th Floor: The Helipad, Helicopters, and Visitors too
On April 18, 2019, I took the elevator up to the 16th floor to check out the Helipad. I had heard that it was being prepared to be poured early the next morning. Like 2:30 AM in the morning. As I entered the aerial lift, Santos, one of the inspectors was already leaning up against the cage. He told me that he would be there for the pour.
Upon exiting the cage, we made our way over to the west wing, where a crew was gathering for a planning meeting. As passed the Central Core/Elevator Tower two guys (Brian and Armando III) from the MONOKOTE crew hollered. As I turned, they posed for the camera.
Brian (left) and Armando III (right) pose for the camera on level 16 near the central core/elevator tower.There in front of me, nicely framed by two columns, was the helipad supported by its columns like a gigantic UFO. On top of the pad was a group of inspectors who had convened a final walk through (more like a walk on) before the big concrete pour early (2:30 in the AM) Thursday morning on the following day.On the southwest corner of the Adult Hospital tower is the canopy for the stairs that will allow access to the roof. Once completed, the stairwell will have been enclosed to keep out the elements.Floor 16-1/2 is the level of the helipad. The stairs to the helipad. To the right is the stair access to the roof. From the vantage point inside the Executive Conference Room, we can see the level of the helipad, which is approximately in between the 16th floor and its cealing.At the top of the stairs to the helipad, I was able to see the tons of reinforcing rebar crisscrossing the pad. Some of the hoses, which will bring the concrete to the pad are being positioned for the pour. To the left of the frame is the 17th floor or the roof of the Adult Hospital tower. To the right is the upper level of the 17th floor of the central core/elevator tower. Above the roof for the central core is a small mechanical room.The Stairway access as viewed from the helipad.The stairwell: From this vantage point, 16 stories below, one can see Barton Road and Parking Structure P4.The Helipad after being poured. TThe reason for the tar[s is that the concrete is in the final setting stage.The Helipad, as viewed from the 17th floor, after the concrete pour earlier in the morning.Under the helipad: To the left the valley floor. To the right of the frame is the Executive Conference Room The helipad’s base is anchored to the 16th floor.After taking the flight of stairs down to the 16th floor this was my view. Center left are the stairs to the Patient Lobby. Straight ahead is the Executive Conference Room. The pubic Elevators (yet to be framed) are in the center of the frame. At the lower left of the frame are two Patient Elevators and two Adult Service Elevator.While up on the 16th floor, I heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance. From the northeast, over the valley a dark colored helicopter came into view. Its sound was different than the usual air ambulances that frequently come in for a landing on either the north or south helipads.Now at eye level, the US Army Sikorsky MEDEVAC Black Hawk Helicopter on approach to the north helipad. A nice look at the hill (in the foreground at the bottom of the frame) where it all began some 114-years ago.Below eye level.Right: Helipad in sight; Left: Touch down on the north helipad.Two of the visitors: (left) Kerry Heinrich (sporting a Seattle Seahawks hard hat), CEO, Loma Linda University Medical Center; (right) Javier Ruiz, Construction Manage/Owners Representative, look out over the valley.As another MEDEVAC helicopter took off from the north helipad, Kerry Heinrich (center), CEO, Loma Linda University Medical Center, lights up with a big grin as he asks if I was able to get a photo of the US Army Sikorsky MEDEVAC Black Hawk Helicopter that had landed earlier on the north helipad. Other visitors from the Loma Linda University Health campus I met up on the 16th floor were: (From left to right) Javier Ruiz, Construction Manager/Owner Representative, Jtec HCM, INC.; Jill Payne, Assistant Vice President for Philanthropy, Loma Linda University Health; Ron Blaum, Planned Giving Officer, Loma Linda University Health; and Eric Schilt, Vice President of Planning, Design and Construction, Loma Linda Health. In an hours time, a second MEDEVAC helicopter leaves the campus airspace.
As Kerry Heinrich (left), CEO, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and Eric Schilt, Vice President of Planning, Design and Construction, Loma Linda Health look over the south side of the 16th floor, they watch as a possible Riverside County Sheriffs helicopter fly over the south Loma Linda Hills. The pilots could have been checking out a floating sphere at the point of the white arrow.
After taking a photo of the US Army Sikorsky MEDEVAC Black Hawk Helicopter coming in for a landing, I wondered what it would be like to take a photo of a helicopter coming in at eye level with me standing further back on the roof. A few days later, I got that opportunity.
Just as we were about to depart the roof, I heard the all too familiar sound of a helicopter. Walking out from under the steel beams of the Central Core/Elevator tower, I had time to aim my camera, focus the lens and CLICK the shutter. One shot and the REACH Air Medical Services helicopter dipped below the edge of the roof line. In the end, this image is more than a wish come true for a neat shot. This image is emblematic of the many Life Flight helicopters that fly in patients to this institution of Health and Healing. Kudos to the helicopter pilots and the medical personnel of all air medical services who are part of a team that share in the motto of this institution: “To Make Man Whole.”
After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨
