As Crosley Tower comes down, UC looks to STEM

Demolition on Crosley Tower is expected to wrap up by February, allowing site work to begin for the new classroom and lab building, UC’s first facing Martin Luther King Drive.

Including Crosley's demolition and site preparation, the 200,000-square-foot STEM Academic Facility represents an estimated $304 million investment to reimagine this side of campus, giving UC a new inviting entrance opposite Burnet Woods.

The STEM Academic Facility will become a central hub for STEM students, offering new study spaces, labs and classrooms designed to support hands-on learning, research and co-op preparation. The facility will provide advanced, state-of-the-art spaces for UC students, particularly in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the College of Arts and Sciences, UC’s largest college by enrollment.

“UC’s continued growth reflects the confidence students, families and employers have in the value of a UC education,” President Neville Pinto said. “And the new STEM Academic Facility is a direct response to our growth.”

It comes at a time when the university is expanding student opportunities in co-op, the system UC pioneered a century ago that allows students to get firsthand experience working for employers in their chosen field.

UC co-op is nationally renowned, attracting top talent to UC for the opportunity to kickstart careers through trusted connections to industry, government and nonprofits.

“For College of Arts and Sciences students, this facility will open new doors for learning, research and discovery,“ Dean James Mack said.

“These modern spaces will bring students and faculty together to explore ideas, tackle real-world challenges and translate knowledge into action. The experiences students gain here will prepare them to lead, innovate and create meaningful impact long after graduation.“

“This is a major investment in Ohio’s workforce: in the engineers, scientists, researchers and manufacturers who will help power our state’s economy for decades to come,” Pinto said.

Construction is slated to begin next year and conclude in 2029.

College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean John Weidner said the new STEM building will feature capstone design studios providing the space and tools for students to work on their projects.

“The studios allow teams of students to create, build and test functional prototypes that address open-ended, real-world challenges,” Weidner said.

Meanwhile, UC alumni continue to celebrate the 17-story Crosley Tower with remembrances of the Brutalist concrete landmark erected over 18 days using a single-pour technique. Skanska and O’Rourke Wrecking Co. are dismantling Crosley in pieces, hoisting slabs to the ground by crane.

Named for UC alumnus Powel Crosley Jr., a graduate of both UC’s College of Law and its College of Engineering and Applied Science. Its classrooms and labs taught students in chemistry, biology and geosciences, among others.

“Goodnight, sweet prince. We’ll always have chem study groups,” one alumnus posted on Bluesky.

Another included a recent shot of the half-demolished tower.

“It’s always later than you think,” the alumnus observed.

Featured image at top: UC's New STEM Academic Facility will provide advanced classrooms and cutting-edge labs for UC's College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering and Applied Science. Illustration/ATCHAIN for HDR