Today’s artifact: A 2011 video of St. Tammany Health System leadership christening the newly completed Skybridge over South Tyler Street with a New Orleans-style second-line.
Why it is significant: When St. Tammany Parish Hospital first opened its doors on Dec. 1, 1954, Covington was a considerably more rural place than it is today.
Not only was the 30-bed hospital surrounded by pines and green space, but that rural environment was touted as a benefit, with a patio built to give patients a chance to take in a little of the Northshore’s famous “ozone” air.
Today, it is surrounded by a bustling Northshore community, which is great – except when it comes time for expansion.
So, after buying land across busy South Tyler Street from the hospital – occupied today by the Charles A. Frederick Medical Office Complex, which includes the STHS-owned Covington Surgery Center – hospital leaders decided in 2010 to construct a 208-foot, $3 million skybridge spanning the roadway to provide pedestrians safe passage between the two buildings.
The catch: To build it, traffic would have to be shut down for several hours on South Tyler Street.
The solution: a spectacular maneuver in June 2011, in which a massive steel truss was hoisted into place by crane in the dead of night, to reduce the impact of the traffic disruption. (A number of night-owl spectators turned out to watch and photograph the event anyway.)
It would take a few months to finish the job and enclose the new air-conditioned Skybridge, but by November of that same year, it was ready to open.
Hospital leaders held a traditional ribbon cutting – and then they decided to have a little fun by inviting hospital staffers to join them in a New Orleans-style second-line across the thing – complete with custom-made hankies adorned with the hospital logo.
It was billed as a flash mob, a recognition of the then-emerging fad. But whatever you call it, that moment was an enthusiastic celebration of what has since become a key part of the Covington skyline – and a symbolic bridge to the hospital’s future, which has seen non-stop construction projects ever since.
Do you have a St. Tammany Parish Hospital story or item to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at CommDept@stph.org.