The mural at the Santa Teresa Branch Library shows children reading against a golden landscape, with walkers in the distance, oak leaves and California poppies. Jolene Rose Russell painted it in 2024 and called it "Sunset Storytime." In December 2024, Kaiser Permanente started construction on its medical center campus next door at 250 Hospital Parkway. Nearly two years into that work, the library at 290 International Circle has a new main approach. That approach is likely to stay in use for a while, because the project that closed Camino Verde Road is finished and the larger project beside it still has years to go.
The Garage Was the Short Job
On Monday, December 2, 2024, Camino Verde Road off Santa Teresa Boulevard closed so Kaiser Permanente San José Medical Center could build a parking structure. In its closure notice, the San Jose Public Library estimated the closure would last "until approximately June 2026" and named Cottle Road and Liska Lane as the alternate routes.
The garage itself had an earlier date. Kaiser's visitor information page announced that the new South Garage would open to members on May 16, 2026, with more than 1,000 new parking spaces. Kaiser's project page now has a video titled "New Parking Garage Opening Celebration." In May 2025 the structure was reported as 28% complete, so it went from about a quarter built to open in about a year.
The road is a different story. The Santa Teresa Branch page now says the library "is open during construction at Kaiser San Jose Medical Center; Camino Verde Road is partially open with intermittent access." The June 2026 estimate was for a road closure that SJPL tied to the garage project, and the library's notice now ties road access to Kaiser construction that is still going on.
The Hospital Runs on a 2029 Clock
The garage was meant to support the main project, a new hospital. Kaiser says hospital construction started in December 2024 and describes the building as 650,000 square feet with room for more than 300 patients in private rooms. The opening is scheduled for 2029. The City of San José's environmental review description gives 685,000 square feet including basement space, and the project also includes a central utility plant and energy center. In 2024, The Mercury News reported a planned 303 beds, up from 247 in the current building.
So far the build has gone like this:
| Milestone | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Camino Verde Road closes | December 2, 2024 | San Jose Public Library |
| Hospital construction begins | December 2024 | Kaiser Permanente |
| First hospital steel erected, for the Emergency Department and Cath Lab section | October 1, 2025 | Kaiser Permanente |
| South Garage opening to members, as announced | May 16, 2026 | Kaiser Permanente |
| Latest hospital construction time-lapse posted | October 6, 2026 | Kaiser Permanente |
| New hospital opening | 2029 | Kaiser Permanente |
The steel frame is up. Kaiser's project page has a "Topping Out Ceremony" video of crews setting the final beam at the highest point of the structure. Kaiser counts 9,578 tons of steel in the hospital structure, about 9 miles of beams laid end to end, and 46,000 cubic yards of concrete, or roughly 14 Olympic swimming pools. Even with the frame in place, the 2029 opening date is still years out.
After that opening, the campus has more planned work. Under the City's description, the existing 250,000-square-foot hospital stays open during construction and is demolished afterward. The description also lists later campus projects: removing two one-story medical office buildings of about 10,100 square feet each, building a 250,000-square-foot outpatient facility, and adding another parking garage.
Getting to International Circle Now
Because work will continue around the library for years, the current route will probably serve as the regular one for some time. Here's how to get there based on current guidance:
- Use Hospital Parkway. Kaiser's visitor page tells Santa Teresa Branch Library visitors to "enter from Hospital Parkway and follow the directional signs."
- Treat Camino Verde as uncertain. The library describes access as partial and intermittent, so a route that worked last week may not work this week.
- Keep the original alternates in mind. The library's closure notice included a map showing Liska Lane and Cottle Road as open approaches from Santa Teresa Boulevard.
- Check the hours before an afternoon trip. The branch opens at 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and closes at 6:00 p.m. From Tuesday through Thursday it's open 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
During the earlier closure, the library said it would keep regular hours and services. Its current notice still says the branch is open throughout the construction.
What's on the Calendar Through the Holidays
With the route sorted, here's what's coming up. These are the branch's programs from publish day through the end of the year, taken from the SJPL events calendar for Santa Teresa. They range from preschool science to a visit from Santa.
| Date | Program | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov 12 | Native American Heritage Month Storytime | 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. |
| Thu, Nov 12 | Santa Teresa Book Club, hybrid | 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov 12 | Wee Love Science: Leaf Exploration | 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Terrarium Workshop for Teens and Adults | Noon to 1:00 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Filipino American History Month Storytime and Parol lantern making | 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Community Puzzle Swap | All day |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Community Game & Craft Day | 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec 4 | First Friday Tea | 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. |
| Wed, Dec 9 | Firelight Shadow Theater: Spin Me a Shadow, Tell Me a Hanukkah Tale | 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Reading to Furry Friends | 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. |
| Sat, Dec 12 | In a Pickle for a Gift Idea? Make a Handmade Gift | 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. |
| Wed, Dec 16 | Visit with Santa Claus | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 26 | Community Puzzle Swap | All day |
Both Puzzle Swaps fall on the first Saturday after a holiday closure. The library is closed Thursday and Friday, November 26 and 27, for Thanksgiving, and Thursday and Friday, December 24 and 25, for Christmas. The Community Game & Craft Day listed for December 26 has been canceled, but the Puzzle Swap that day is still on the calendar.
The Visit with Santa Claus starts at 5:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, so families can come after school. It's also the only evening program on this list. For an evening visit, the Hospital Parkway entrance with Kaiser's directional signs is the dependable route, since Camino Verde's access can change.
The Campus Around the Mural
Two things in Kaiser's visitor information also matter for library trips. The South Garage gives the campus more than 1,000 additional parking spaces, and Kaiser offers complimentary valet in three places on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.: between Buildings 1 and 2, outside Building 6 next to the hospital, and near Building 4. Kaiser's construction updates page has the drone flyover from September 29, 2026 and the time-lapse from October 6, 2026, which show what's going up across the parking lot.
The hospital is scheduled to open in 2029. After that, the City's plans include demolishing the old hospital and building an outpatient facility and another garage.
If you own a home near the Kaiser San José campus and want to know how a construction schedule that runs to 2029 could affect buyers' view of your street, talk with The Samit Shah Team. We follow these South San Jose projects closely and can help you plan around the timeline. Work With Us.
