November 2015
Grace Keenan and Sarah Strickbine drove hard bargains at the Las Sendas Garage Sale.
Dignity Health ER coming to Mesa
Goodwill to build Las Sendas location By Michelle Talsma Everson Early next year, a 22,500-squarefoot Goodwill shop and donation center will open on the corner of Power and McDowell roads. The shop was approved unanimously at a recent Mesa Planning and Zoning Board meeting, much to the chagrin of several Las Sendas residents who protested at the meeting, through e-mails and calls to Mesa City officials. At the Sept. 16 open meeting residents brought up their concerns that the Goodwill won’t mesh well with the sophisticated look of the Las Sendas area. One resident said that there are three Goodwill locations within 7
miles of the proposed building site, so he didn’t see the need for another. Other residents urged that the City of Mesa needed to give residents “retail [outlets] that we want to shop at” and noted that the Goodwill seemed at odds with the “Shop Mesa” campaign. Still, City officials note that Goodwill’s plans fall within Mesa City guidelines, so they cannot deny their request to build in an open retail space. “I appreciate the frustrations of some citizens, but preventing Goodwill to establish an operation is outside the control of anyone sitting in a city council seat,” said Councilman David Luna, whose district includes
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By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Residents of Northeast Mesa can expect to see a freestanding Dignity Health emergency room in early to mid-2016. The Dignity Health emergency room is opening in the former location of Peter Piper Pizza near Power and McKellips roads, according to Bill Jabjiniak, Mesa’s economic development director. “It’s an adaptive reuse of an about 10,000-square-foot building,” he said. “It did not need any City Council action because it’s an existing structure. It was just building permit activity.” The building permit was issued in June and Dignity Health expects to open in June, he said. “I think the City is thrilled to see Dignity’s expansion into Mesa and we
look at it from an adaptive reuse purpose,” Jabjiniak said. “It’s giving great new life to an older building.” Dignity Health officials said they could not comment on the project. Dignity Health has other freestanding emergency rooms as well in Gilbert, Chandler and Glendale. A freestanding emergency room is a relatively new hybrid that is open all the time and connected professionally to a major hospital, but located separately and conveniently.
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