The crowning ceremony marked a significant milestone in the construction of Joan Secchia Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital. The final steel beam was placed to complete the steel framework of Michigan’s first children’s rehabilitation hospital. It will be the country’s ninth freestanding children’s rehabilitation hospital once it’s completed in fall of 2026.

The venture shared by Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation and Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, was announced in 2022 and a groundbreaking took place in August 2024. The state-of-the-art facility is designed for, and exclusively dedicated to, the rehabilitation of infants, children and teens, and will connect via skybridge across Wealthy Street to the main Mary Free Bed hospital.

The final piece of steel going atop the new building helps bring the construction to a total of 390 tons of steel. The final structure will stand 48 feet and 6 inches above grade. The skybridge once completed, will add an additional 135 tons of steel to the project.

After last summer’s groundbreaking, construction crews began preparing the site, working months on moving 54.6 million pounds of earth. To date, 75 construction workers have been involved on the site.

‍