UI seeks Iowa Board of Regents approval for 3 facilities projects

The Iowa Board of Regents will consider renovations to the Performing Arts Annex and Iowa Bioscience Innovation Facility, as well as construction of the Utilities Services Building, at its September meeting.

Friday, September 6, 2024

The University of Iowa is seeking approval from the Iowa Board of Regents to begin work on three facilities projects at the board's meeting Sept. 18-19.

Projects include renovating the Performing Arts Annex, which will be the new home of the UI Department of Dance; updating the Iowa Bioscience Innovation Facility with new research and entrepreneurial lab space; and constructing the Utilities Services Building to increase efficiencies and consolidate space for facilities staff.

Performing Arts Annex to be new home of Department of Dance

Upcoming renovation work to the Performing Arts Annex will give the UI's Department of Dance a place to thrive.

The dance department, currently located in Halsey Hall, is the state's only comprehensive university dance program, offering rigorous ballet training as well as contemporary, modern, and global dance.

"With the Performing Arts Annex as our new home, the Department of Dance will have the studio and learning space needed to continue training fantastic performers," says Rebekah Kowal, the department executive officer of dance. "The building's location will also put us in the hub of artists on the west side of campus, including theater and art departments."

Upon project completion, the annex will boast five dance studios, support space, faculty and staff offices, costume storage space, and student gathering spaces. In addition, the building's aged roof system will be replaced.

Work on the roof will begin this fall, with work on the rest of the building slated to begin in March and be completed in May 2026. The project is estimated to cost $12 million and will be funded with P3 strategic initiative funds.

The UI selected the Performing Arts Annex - formerly the Museum of Art - as the best place to meet the Department of Dance's needs. Halsey Hall, which was built in 1915 as a women's gymnasium, has many maintenance needs and inadequate studio sizes for classes.

UI remains leader in bioscience research, translation with IBIF renovation

To further the UI's extraordinary medical and bioscience research, plans are in place to renovate the third and fifth floors of the Iowa Bioscience Innovation Facility (IBIF) to create new laboratory space with funding provided by the state of Iowa.

"The University of Iowa is at the forefront of bioscience research and clinical insights," says Jon Darsee, the UI's chief innovation officer. "Our faculty, staff, and trainees tirelessly work to address challenging problems in health care delivery by creating better medical devices, therapeutics, and processes to improve the health of Iowans. This new laboratory and programmatic space will enhance the energy, collaboration, and innovation that will continue to make the university a recognized leader for the translation of research into real-world impact."

IBIF, located on Grand Avenue adjacent to the College of Pharmacy building and Field House, was previously known as the Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Building.

The renovation project is expected to take place from winter 2025 to spring 2026, and current third-floor IBIF occupants will be relocated to the College of Pharmacy building. The move will make space for the Office of Innovation to address the high demand for commercial wet labs, plus a hub for Iowa MADE, the Nurse Innovators Program, the Iowa Innovation Leadership Fellows, and collaborative space.

Along with the renovation work, some College of Public Health research units located in the Institute for Rural and Environmental Health (IREH) facility on the Oakdale Campus will be relocated to IBIF. The move will improve research collaborations and provide researchers more space, and the IREH facility will be razed.

The IBIF project is estimated to cost $13 million, a majority of which will come from an $8.2 million grant awarded to the UI by the state of Iowa in 2022. Thanks to the grant funding, the UI can update the existing space instead of constructing a new building.

New Utilities Services Building to increase efficiencies for staff

The UI plans to construct a utilities storage facility and renovate a portion of the Madison Street Services Building (MSSB), 640 S. Madison St., to better accommodate facilities and utility operator staff and equipment.

The proposed Utilities Services Building will house essential equipment for the daily maintenance and operations of the UI's utility distribution system.

This project will consolidate space, improve efficiencies, and reduce operating costs, while also freeing up space within MSSB for Landscape Services staff and equipment displaced last spring after the demolition of Old Laundry Building.

Construction is anticipated from December 2024 to July 2025, with an estimated project cost of $7.5 million.