Construction Project Includes New College of Allied Health Sciences Home

The evolution of the University of Cincinnati (UC) campus is taking another step forward with a new construction project on the western edge of the medical campus. Work on the Eden Avenue and Panzeca Way superblock is underway and will continue during the next 30 months. This $98 million project will impact the area bounded on the south by Panzeca Way, on the east by Eden Avenue, on the north by East Shields Street and on the west by the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The project, which began in the spring of 2015, is being carried out in seven segments, two of which have been completed. Kettering North has been demolished and Phase 1 renovations of Kowalewski Hall (formerly known as the Health Professions Building) have begun. This part of the project includes renovations of the four-story north wing of Kowalewski Hall with the exception of the Network Operations Center. New windows are being installed and the 214-seat auditorium, which has been used for storage for several years, will be renovated and open for spring semester 2017. 

This summer, the Radiation Safety Offices building will be demolished and the Kehoe G26 classroom will be renovated. At the start of fall semester, the part of Lot 13 (parking lot adjacent to Kettering Lab Complex and the Radiation Safety Offices) north of Panzeca Way will close. Lot 13 parking spaces west of Eden Garage will remain open.

Also in the fall of 2016, Wherry Hall will be permanently closed. Wherry Hall opened in 1959, named for William Wherry, MD, a College of Medicine pathology faculty member from 1909 until his death in 1936. Pre-demolition begins on Wherry Hall in the fall with full demolition of the building expected in January 2017. 

"Wherry will be difficult to demo where it abuts to Kowalewski Hall," says Dale Magoteaux, project manager, UC Division of Administration and Finance, Planning + Design + Construction. "Utilities will have to be carefully removed between the two buildings and mechanical systems that feed the south wing of Kowalewski Hall are located in Wherry. Kowalewski Hall construction will start in the fall semester with the exception of the classrooms located in the south wing. They will remain open for the fall semester."

Phase 2 of the renovation of Kowalewski Hall, which opened in 1918 to be home to the College of Medicine, will begin this fall.

Construction of the new Health Sciences Building (HSB) will also begin this fall. The HSB will be a four-story, 110,000 square foot building consisting of classrooms, labs and offices to house the College of Allied Health Sciences (CAHS). Classrooms will be located throughout the building, with labs in the south wing and offices primarily in the north wing.

The HSB is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2018, the year in which CAHS celebrates the 20th anniversary of the college. Plans call for French East, which CAHS has occupied since 1999, to be converted to a simulation center with construction starting summer 2019 for use by the medical campus. Perkins+Will, an architecture firm based in Chicago, designed the new HSB. 

"Our individual department heads and unit heads, along with faculty and staff have participated in numerous meetings to define their unit-specific space needs," says Tina Whalen, EdD, dean of CAHS.  "We are thrilled that Perkins and Will has created a 'signature' building for the college that will highlight our many educational, research and clinical service initiatives."

The HSB will be located in the southwest corner of the Eden and Panzeca Way superblock. That positioning will create a nearly 1.5 acre green space in front of the building, featuring newly planted trees and shrubs creating a natural entranceway to the Kettering Lab Complex. 

University Architect Beth McGrew says the theme for the campus plan is a healthy campus. "This is why green space is being created as well as abundant natural light in the new structures to provide a more enjoyable work place," she says. "Along with this will be new classrooms to make space among the colleges more equitable with more opportunities for sharing."