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St. Luke's Children's Pavilion grand opening

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Posted at 3:57 AM, Aug 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-24 20:56:57-04

BOISE, Idaho — The new Idaho Elks Children's Pavilion held its official grand opening Saturday.

St. Luke's Children's Hospital is opened their doors to its one-of-a-kind medical building aimed at changing how children view going to the doctor.

The Idaho Elks Children's Pavilion officially opens to patients on September 3. The $42 million, 100,000 square foot building is on the corner of Avenue B and Jefferson Street in downtown Boise. It links to Idaho's only Children's Hospital via a skybridge.

It was paid for, in part, with $23 million in donations from the community.

“Children are special, and so are their health care needs,” said Katie Apple, St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital administrator. “We’ve created a space for them that provides age-appropriate therapies to help them cope with illness, opportunities to express themselves, and all in an environment of positivity and fun that lets them just be kids."

People were able to walk on the skybridge, see the art and play structures, visit the Family Resource Center, learn about specialized medical equipment and see other unique features throughout the building.

Each floor has a different theme with different animals featured. Check out the details below.

Floor 1
• Animals: bear and bluebird
• Theme: Idaho sky
• Central patient check-in and scheduling
• Center for Health and Lifestyle Learning
• Sibling Center
• Family Resource Center
• Teaching and Adaptive Kitchens

Floor 2
• Animals: fox and butterfly
• Theme: the Palouse
•Activities: camper play structure, fox light / shadow boxes
• Interactive Idaho map: fox mirror boxes
• In-house lab staffed with a pediatric phlebotomist

Floor 3
• Animals: elk and hummingbird
• Theme: mountains
• Activity: mountain play structure, glass mosaic mural by Richard Herdegen
• Interactive Idaho map: topography
• Rehabilitation gym and Idaho’s only vector machine

Floor 4
• Animals: trout and dragonfly
• Theme: rivers and canyons
• Activities: Boise foothills viewing stations, petroglyphic cave play structure, gem hunting game
• Interactive Idaho map: rivers
• Skybridge: The 123-foot box truss skybridge connects to Idaho’s only Children’s Hospital and provides direct access for doctors needed in the hospital and patients who need to get to the hospital quickly. The skybridge is open to Pavilion patients during the day and hospital patients in the evenings.

Floor 5
• Animals: owl and squirrel
• Theme: Boise Foothills
• Activity: future rooftop garden