Design for New UM Nursing Bldg OK’d

The schematic design of a new $50 million building for the University of Michigan School of Nursing was approved by UM regents at their July 19, 2012 meeting. Regents had approved the overall project in March. The school is currently located at 400 N. Ingalls, in a former hospital built in 1913. The new location will be nearby at the north end of Ingalls, near the Kingsley intersection. [.pdf of map showing location of the new nursing school]

The proposed 75,000-square-foot building will include instructional space, a clinical learning center, and simulated patient suites. The new building is intended to accommodate an additional 40 new faculty and staff members over the next five to ten years, according to a staff memo. The memo states that 125 parking spaces will be lost because of the construction, but that UM will be increasing the amount of parking in the nearby medical center campus, and will be using transit services to bring faculty, staff and students in from remote parking lots.

The architectural firm RDG Planning and Design will be handling the project’s design, and representatives from the firm gave a brief presentation at the July 19 board meeting. The school’s dean, Kathleen Potempa, attended the meeting but did not formally address the regents. Construction is expected to be done by the summer of 2015.

This report was filed from the Michigan Union’s Rogel ballroom, where the board held its July meeting.