FROM THE PRESIDENT

Great things are happening this month in the Texas Medical Center. The John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons, the area’s newest building, is now open to the public. Located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center at 6550 Bertner Ave., this new venture is designed to put a finger on the pulse of the TMC community – students, patients and their families, educators, employees and health professionals.

During the hustle and bustle that happens during the peak of any given day, it is often inconvenient for those who spend their waking hours here to head to other parts of the city to eat, meet and shop. The centrally located, 288,000 square-foot building now offers many choices for those seeking retail and dining services. Waterside Court, on the building’s first floor, offers something for everyone. It features Einstein Bros. Bagels, Great American Cookies, Kim Son, KFC Express, Luther’s Bar-B-Q, Starbucks Coffee, TCBY, and the Waterside Café. In addition, on the sixth floor, Trevísio offers breakfast in the Roma Room, and lunch and dinner in the main dining room.

In addition to dining facilities, other amenities are offered in the building. These include banking facilities, a combination gift shop/florist, a 500-space parking garage, and eight conference rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audio/visual equipment to accommodate those hosting meetings. The rooms include one 85-person reception room, four 40-person meeting rooms (two can be joined together by removing a center partition), a 20-person study, a 16-person after-dining lounge, and a 15-person meeting room. Trevísio will provide catering for groups utilizing these rooms, and also will handle room reservations.

The John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons is veiled by two, 64-foot high water walls that “wrap” around the structure’s unique, quarter-round design. These water walls are four feet taller than the Galleria-area Williams Tower water walls (formerly the Transco Tower water walls).

The commons building is within walking distance of most Texas Medical Center institutions, including Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Medical School and Dental Branch, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, The Methodist Hospital, and Memorial Hermann and Texas Children’s Hospitals.

All who frequent the Texas Medical Center are invited and encouraged to drop by and see what this new attraction has to offer.

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/10_15_02/page_27.html