The Indiana University Board of Trustees has approved sites for new IU School of Medicine medical education and research facilities within an IU Health master site plan development in Indianapolis, as well as a request to bid the renovation of the Collins Living-Learning Center in Bloomington. Both requests were presented by Thomas A. Morrison, vice president for capital planning and facilities.
A new Academic Health Center campus near 16th Street and Senate Avenue in Indianapolis that also includes sites for IU School of Medicine education and research facilities is under development by Indiana University Health. The master site plan for this campus, which will serve Indianapolis and the surrounding region, is anchored by a new Flexible Platform of Care Hospital, consolidating Methodist and University hospitals, to be located at the southwest corner of 16th Street and Capitol Avenue.
New auxiliary support facilities including parking structures, office and retail facilities, and a central utility plant will also be constructed by IU Health.
Along with IU Health facilities, sites for IU School of Medicine medical education and research facilities are embedded into the Academic Health Center campus west of Senate Avenue and immediately south of the IU Neurosciences Research Building and IU Health Neuroscience Center at Goodman Hall. These sites provide flexibility and scale to accommodate medical education facilities as well as future research facilities in this area, including the planned IU School of Medicine Education and Research Building.
“Our mission at IU School of Medicine is to improve health, in Indiana and beyond, through education, research and clinical care. That’s never been more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Jay L. Hess, dean of IU School of Medicine and IU’s executive vice president for university clinical affairs.
“This state-of-the-art facility, a critical part of the Academic Health Center project, will transform how we prepare researchers and health care professionals to face the health challenges that lie ahead.”
A large quad open space immediately west of Senate Avenue and across the street from the IU Health Flexible Platform of Care Hospital will provide a campus-like arrival to the planned IU School of Medicine Education and Research complex. A 15th Street corridor will bisect this open space, extending from the main entry of the new hospital to the west, providing an at-grade link between the hospital and the School of Medicine medical education and research sites.
A significant building site will be created south of this new 15th Street corridor that could accommodate future research buildings. This expansion site affords significant flexibility for future School of Medicine activities in this area of Indianapolis. Modifications to the current drop-off roadway on the west edge of the site will provide automobile drop-off locations and access for both medical education and research sites in the future while ensuring that access to the Neurosciences Research Building and Goodman Hall are maintained.
“Approval of this master site plan for IU School of Medicine facilities within the new IU Health Academic Health Center campus is the first step in the capital development process for our planned medical education and research complex,” Morrison said. “We look forward to now working toward detailed architectural and engineering plans to support this exciting project for the IU School of Medicine.”
In addition to the master site plan for new medical education and research facilities in Indianapolis, the board also approved to move forward to bidding the renovation of the Collins Living-Learning Center on the Bloomington campus, not to exceed the previously approved project cost of $23 million. This project was approved by the board in October 2019 but was placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beth Feickert is a capital planning project specialist for the IU Office of the Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities.
