CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston Area Medical Center has purchased additional property on the site of the former Watt Powell ballpark, paving the way for a new $40 million cancer outpatient center.

The CAMC Foundation paid the University of Charleston $2.1 million for the remainder of the 5-acre Watt Powell property, after UC scrapped plans to build an athletic facility on the Kanawha City site, hospital executives said Thursday.

CAMC expects to start construction on the comprehensive cancer center in 2012 and complete the project by 2014.

"This project is so important because of the number of cancer patients we see every day, every week, every year, and the numbers continue to grow," said Gail Pitchford, president of the hospital's foundation.

The building and grounds will replace the David Lee Cancer Center at CAMC Memorial Hospital's campus in Kanawha City.

"We have a very busy cancer center, but we've outgrown the space we have," Pitchford said.

Watt Powell Park -- home of Charleston's minor league baseball teams for decades -- was demolished in 2005.

UC paid $5 million for the property, and CAMC later purchased 60 percent of the parcel. CAMC had "first right of refusal" to buy UC's portion of the site, and the hospital recently exercised that right. UC did not lose any money in the deal.

The CAMC Foundation hopes to raise $10 million to $15 million in private donations to help pay for the cancer center. CAMC will likely finance the rest of the project through a bond issue. 

CAMC already has hired architects to design the building, but the hospital hasn't finalized plans and submitted them to the state Healthcare Authority for approval.

The hospital is soliciting suggestions for the future cancer center from oncologists (doctors who specialize in cancer treatment), nurses, patients, families and community leaders.

"It's a community-driven project because cancer touches everyone," Pitchford said. "One in two men, and one in three women, will be diagnosed with some type of cancer during their lives."

Preliminary plans call for a two- or three-story building. The cancer center would include chemotherapy infusion rooms, "linear accelerator" radiation therapy "vaults," and physician offices, including space for radiation oncologists.

With the additional space and staff, CAMC hopes to cut in half the time cancer patients must wait to see a physician at the center. The hospital recently hired two additional oncologists, with another expected to come on board next year.

"We will be able to provide multi-disciplinary care in a one-stop shop," Pitchford said. "We're streamlining the process from diagnosis to treatment to recovery, and providing the support the family needs."

The cancer center also will house community and family meeting rooms, a library and wig shop. Outside, there will be a meditation garden, and jogging and walking track.

"It will be a soothing atmosphere that breathes life," Pitchford said.

CAMC has a national reputation for its cardiac-care services. The hospital hopes to gain similar recognition for its cancer treatment program. CAMC officials believe the new facility will help attract some of the best and brightest oncologists in the nation to the state.

"The cancer center will become a destination for all those touched by cancer," Pitchford said. "It will make things so much easier for the patients and their families."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.