Elmhurst University officials announced that the Illinois Board of Higher Education, jointly with the Capital Development Board, has awarded the school a $7.43 million grant to help fund construction of a new health sciences building.
School and city officials gathered Oct. 12 for a symbolic ground breaking ceremony marking the start of work on the planned new 45,000 square foot health sciences building, a building with an anticipated price tag of about $30 million.
The building, the first new building on the campus in 15 years, will house a state-of-the-art facility officials say will be a hub for the school’s nursing, public health, occupational therapy, and communication sciences and disorders programs.
“We’re very excited to have received the IBHE grant,” school President Troy VanAken said in an email to Pioneer Press. “It demonstrates the state’s support for not only the strength of Elmhurst University’s health sciences programs, but also the multidisciplinary approach we take to preparing our students to become excellent health care providers. The building itself embodies that approach, by bringing all of those programs under one roof and creating a collaborative environment for our faculty and students.”
The facility will house a simulation space and virtual reality lab, as well as a new speech-language-hearing clinic, classrooms, offices and labs. It also will also house the Jans Military and Veterans Center, a resource center for student veterans and students actively serving in the military.
“The expanded spaces in the new building will also help us to better serve the community,” VanAken said in his email. “The new speech-hearing clinic will be more accessible to a greater number of clients, and we also plan to open an interprofessional practice that will offer occupational therapy and nursing services to patients in the community.”
To maximize accessibility for users and visitors, universal design principles have been applied throughout the plans for the facility, school officials said. The building will be constructed with the goal of earning LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, the world’s most widely used green building rating system.
School officials have said the success of the recently concluded record-breaking fundraising campaign prompted the decision to build a new health sciences building rather than enlarge and renovate an existing building.
The grant was awarded through the state’s Independent Colleges Capital Investment Grant Program, which provides financial assistance to private, not-for-profit colleges and universities in Illinois for construction, repair, renovation and other capital projects. The grant is expected to cover about a quarter of the projected $30 million project.
The new building is expected to be completed in spring of 2025.
VanAken said previously the new building doesn’t yet have a name, but said school officials are having some “robust conversations” over possible naming rights.
Elmhurst University, founded in 1871, offers more than 70 undergraduate programs of study, more than 20 graduate and certificate programs in flexible formats, and the Elmhurst Learning and Success Academy for young adults with differing abilities. Total enrollment is about 3,400 students, according to the school’s website. More information can be found at: Elmhurst University.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
