Construction of a new 470,000-square-foot Houston Methodist Hospital campus in The Woodlands will cause the relocation of Tailgators Pub & Grill in the 242 Crossing shopping center near the intersection of Hwy. 242 and I-45 in Conroe. According to a bar representative, the project will not affect the other business tenants in the center, however.

Business owners in the center said customers were under the impression the entire building was being demolished as part of the hospital project, but the businesses there have worked to reassure patrons that they are staying.

Mike McCoy, owner of Mike's Cigar Room, was adamant that his business is not moving.

"It's a nasty rumor," McCoy said. "I've got six more years on my lease—we're not going anywhere."

Representatives and employees of the other tenants in the 242 Crossing Shopping Center, including Cricket Wireless, Charming Charlie's and A-1 Discount Liquor, each said they are not moving and the construction does not affect them.

"Everybody is thinking that the whole strip mall is going to be knocked down," said Robert Cortez, operations manager for Tailgators. "But that's not true. Basically, it's just our end, and it's not even going to be the whole section here. Just enough to give [the hospital] a two-lane driveway."

Debbie Sukin, regional vice president and CEO of Houston Methodist, The Woodlands Hospital, would not confirm whether the Tailgators section of the shopping center was being removed to accommodate a driveway for the new hospital.

"Somewhere on [Hwy.] 242, we'll have an entrance, but the [specifics] of that, they're just not detailed at this time," she said. "We're in the midst of planning and developing and doing construction."

Cortez confirmed that Tailgators is moving and will vacate its location at 8000 Hwy. 242 on Feb. 21 and move to FM 2920 at Kuykendahl Road. The bar expects to be open again within two weeks. Tailgators has another location at 33418 Egypt Lane in Magnolia, but Cortez said only customers who visit the Hwy. 242 location will be affected by the relocation.

"A lot of customers who have been with us for a while are going to be very sad to see us move from here because we've been here a while," he said.

The new hospital is part of a $328 million development project at the intersection of Hwy. 242 and I-45 and is expected to be completed by early 2017. The new facility will be a 193-bed, full-service, acute care hospital and is the eighth in the Houston Methodist system.

The Woodlands hospital will be part of an overall increase in health care services in The Woodlands. Other developments include a new 548,000-square-foot Texas Children's Hospital, with a target open date of spring 2017, as well as expansions of the Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital and St. Luke's The Woodlands facility.