For immediate release: Nov. 18, 2015 
Contact: Rachel Gordon, 415-554-6045

San Francisco, CA –The City broke ground today at the site of the new Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, a $65 million, bond-funded project that will move the Medical Examiner out of the cramped, seismically deficient Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. into a modern, expanded facility in the Bayview.

Construction is set to take 22 months, with the move-in set for the fall of 2017.

This is the first major project to begin construction funded by the $400 million Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond approved in 2014 by 79 percent of San Francisco voters. This bond and Phase One of the earthquake safety bond program from 2010 are part of a multi-year approach to repair and upgrade the City’s emergency response system. The work includes seismically reinforcing the City’s firehouses, police stations, emergency firefighting water system, and crucial public safety facilities.

“We are making significant investments in our City’s infrastructure through our Ten-Year Capital Plan and creating tens of thousands of jobs at the same time,” said Mayor Ed Lee. “San Francisco will continue rebuilding, renovating and improving our public safety infrastructure to serve and protect our diverse neighborhoods. This new Medical Examiner’s Office will be a state-of-the-art facility that will serve our community, public safety agencies and first responders in addition to the City’s criminal justice system.” 

The Medical Examiner coordinates the investigation and certification for all manners of deaths in San Francisco – natural, homicide, suicide, and accident -- and deaths of persons who cannot immediately be identified. Services provided by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are essential for the community, public safety and first-responder services, as well as the City’s criminal justice system. More than 1,200 deaths are investigated each year. 

“The Medical Examiner’s Office serves in a unique capacity, as an integral part of the City’s justice system, and this modern facility increases our capacity to exceed expectations and serve San Francisco’s needs,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Hunter. 

The 2014 Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond is a product of San Francisco’s Ten-Year Capital Plan. The plan is the City’s formal commitment to long-term, strategic and fiscally responsible capital planning that prioritizes key capital projects that impact public safety. 

“These investments are building a stronger future. We work closely with the community and City departments to identify needs, seek voter approval for funding, and then make these critical seismic improvements,” said City Administrator Naomi Kelly. “And with voter support, the City constructs new public safety facilities and works to ensure a state of good repair for the facilities that our first responders and the public rely on.”

The $65 million allocated to this project relocates the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner from the Hall of Justice to 1 Newhall St. San Francisco Public Works is managing the design and construction of the project. KMD Architects designed the new facility.

“Public Works is committed to delivering these earthquake safety bond projects on time and on budget,” said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. “This is an important project for San Francisco and the Bayview neighborhood.”

The original building on the site in the Bayview’s India Basin Industrial Park was built in 1984. It is set to be demolished in the next month, as the general contractor for the project, Clark Construction Group, mobilizes and begins work on the project. 

"We are proud to partner with the City of San Francisco to deliver a new facility for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner," said Steve Dell'Orto, Senior Vice President of Clark Construction Group. "This project continues a relationship we started with the City decades ago and will enhance San Francisco's ability to provide key services to residents. As a local builder, Clark is honored to have the opportunity to build critical facilities for our community and to create jobs and opportunities for the residents of San Francisco and the Bayview neighborhood." 

The new facility will house each of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s programmatic and first-responder functions consisting of: a medical complex, forensics laboratory, administration, field investigations, building support, and public functions, such as body identification. The Medical Examiner will be equipped to provide continuous and reliable service with enhanced capacity to efficiently process caseloads and produce timely results for victims of crimes, for the criminal justice system, and for medical authorities. It will be a two-story building with 46,000 square feet of space, with room for 50 employees. 

About San Francisco Public Works: The 24/7 City agency cleans and resurfaces streets; plants and nurtures City-maintained street trees; designs, constructs and maintains City-owned facilities; inspects streets and sidewalks; builds curb ramps; eradicates graffiti; partners with neighborhoods; trains people for jobs; greens the right of way; and educates our communities.