State lawmakers have agreed to fully fund phase two of Ball State’s Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) and Health Professions Facility Expansion Project.
The future of the $87.5 million project, discussed at Friday's Board of Trustees meeting, will fund a new 175,000-square-foot facility that will house biology, chemistry and geology departments. The new building will “allow the foundational sciences academic programs to grow on campus and will serve as a vital pipeline to the state’s life sciences sector,” according to a university press release.
"[The bonds] will advance our university's priorities on providing students with educational opportunities in cutting-edge environments that simulate the worlds in which they will work after graduation," said interim president Terry King in an email to faculty.
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Work on phase one is expected to start in late June as the project is currently in the competitive bidding stage.
The new $62.5 million health professions building, located in the East Quad, will encompass about 165,000 square feet and house nursing and health science programs as the university's new College of Health. The building will have classrooms, laboratories, offices, a resource hub, simulation labs/suites and clinical spaces, according to a university press release.
According to a previous Daily News report, the new facility funding will allow the university to continue to clear out the Cooper Science Complex for renovations, something that King said “needs to be replaced” during a University Senate meeting in late March.
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