Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan
Lutheran History
The Lutheran Legacy Campus is located at 8300 W. 38th Avenue and has been part of the SCL Health network since 2010. In 2018, SCL Health (now Intermountain Health) purchased a 26-acre parcel at Clear Creek Crossing west of I-70 at 40th Avenue. Additional information about the new hospital can be found on the Intermountain Health website. The current campus is about 100 acres in size. Lutheran is the City's largest employer.
Medical uses on the property significantly pre-date the City. The site began as the Evangelical Lutheran Sanitarium in 1905, with numerous tents erected for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. In 1961, Lutheran Hospital opened as a non-profit general medical facility. In the 1970s, the site became known as Lutheran Medical Center, and services continued to expand with construction of new buildings, including the six-story tower in 1973. In 1998, Lutheran became part of Exempla Healthcare; and in 2010, Exempla joined the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, which became SCL Health in 2014. SCL Health recently became Intermountain Health.
The hospital move to Clear Creek Crossing brought a rare opportunity for the Wheat Ridge community to think about the future of the Lutheran Legacy Campus in the heart of the City.
The Legacy Campus Master Plan
The site is currently zoned as a Planned Hospital District (PHD), and permitted uses include only hospitals, hospice care, and accessory uses customarily associated with a medical campus. The City’s comprehensive plan, Envision Wheat Ridge, designates the campus as a public land use noting that public uses, including the hospital, will “remain as community and neighborhood anchors.” The plan also designates the site for primary employment. These designations reflect the well-established hospital use, and the comprehensive plan did not consider other potential land uses for the site. It's through a master planning process, however, that possible uses for the future can be updated and expanded.
The planning process for the Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan was approved by City Council at a public hearing on October 25, 2021.The document lays out the community’s vision and will serve as a roadmap for development over the next 15 to 20 years or more. Since the property is held under private ownership, the City does not have full control over what this land will become, and this master plan will help guide prospective buyers to make the community’s vision a reality. Review the master plan and project information below and at the What's Up Wheat Ridge project page.