In a remarkable transformation from a huge empty shell of a building, a property at 501 Cetronia Road, South Whitehall Township, is now a beautiful new facility for St. Luke's University Hospital Health Network.

St. Luke's redeveloped and revitalized the 17-acre property, formerly a Builder's Square store and, after that, the Pennsylvania Convention and Expo Center. The refurbished building has a new façade of brick and stone.

Area politicians and their representatives, construction executives and the public helped St. Luke's Hospital Allentown Campus CEO Frank Ford open the West End Medical Center at a June 6 ceremony.

"St. Luke's West End Medical Center is an example of what can happen between amazing partners with a shared interest in increasing access to care," said Ford.

St. Luke's Hospital Allentown Campus Chairman of the Board for Robert Black said, "Today marks a transformation that was only possible under the tremendous leadership of Frank Ford."

The new facility promises "easy access to high quality health care," according to St. Luke's University Health Network Director of Network Media Relations Denise Rader. There is a 714-space parking lot.

St. Luke's bought the former expo center in December 2011.

The medical center houses five specialty clinics in 28,000-square-feet of the building, which allows plenty of room to expand.

A QuickCare unit can provide urgent care for children and adults.

Other sections of the 108,000-square-foot building have an occupational medicine clinic, laboratory services suite, X-ray and ultrasound lab and OB/GYN.

Leo DeLong and Jim Sipics, principals in Bucks Development and Contracting Corp., attended the ceremony and admired their handiwork. Allied Building Corp. also helped with the reconstruction project.

"The next phase of the development will include a fitness center and a sports and human performance center," according to Rader, geared toward "athletes and fitness-minded people" who want to make "accelerated gains in power, agility, speed and strength."

St. Luke's Hospital teamed with St. Christopher's Hospital for Children for a Pediatric Urgent Care center, expected to open this month.

St. Luke's invested nearly $8 million in the project and received a Commonwealth Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant administered by Lehigh County.

"This very impressive facility and the extraordinary services it will be providing reinforces St. Luke's longstanding commitment to providing for our resident's needs," said Acting Lehigh County Executive Tom Muller. "The county is pleased to have had a small role in assisting with the funding."

The West End Medical Center is part St. Luke's Allentown Campus, which is itself one of six hospitals in St. Luke's University Health Network.

St. Luke's University Health Network includes more than 80 employed physician practice sites and 400 employed physicians.