Science and Nursing Building

Construction has begun on a $43 million project that will more than double the space available to nursing and new graduate health sciences programs.

The largest project component will be a five-story, 97,000-square-foot building that will connect to the current Burns Hall of Science and Nursing by a three-story atrium.

The new building will cost an estimated $32 million, and $5 million will be spent to renovate Burns Hall. The rest of the cost would be for furnishings and design development fees. Construction is expected to take two years to complete.

The new facility will be the centerpiece of a health sciences initiative that was approved by the IWU Board of Trustees in April 2011. The trustees voted in April 2012 to begin construction.

The new building will be located on the site of the former College Wesleyan Church, which was torn down more than a year ago. Some infrastructure work, primarily installing underground utilities, already has been done.

Burns Hall had about 38,000 square feet of floor space when it was built in 1969. A major expansion and renovation completed in 2000 more than doubled the building size.