UCCS will begin construction of the $18.5 million Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences, the first university building on redeveloped North Nevada Avenue, with a 9 a.m. June 21 groundbreaking ceremony.
Faculty and staff are invited to join leaders of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, El Paso County, City of Colorado Springs, Peak Vista Community Health Centers and Lane family members in the ceremonies at the northeast corner of Austin Bluffs and North Nevada Avenue.
“This promises to be a historic day for UCCS and for Colorado Springs,” UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “As community leaders, we will mark the collaboration between public university, public health, municipal government, and private citizens to create new healthcare models and to create a better Colorado Springs.”
The 54,000 square foot four-story building will be larger than Main Hall on the UCCS campus and its architecture will resemble that of UCCS signature buildings Dwire Hall and Osborne Center for Science & Engineering. The building will be home to the Lane Family Senior Health Center (Peak Vista), as well as the CU Aging Center, the Gerontology Center, the Trauma Health and Hazards Center and clinics operated by the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The building provides space for expansion of the CU School of Medicine. UCCS faculty will use the Lane Center to demonstrate models where physical and mental health care are closely integrated and to provide UCCS students with hands-on patient experiences.
The Lane Center is named in honor of the Lane family of Colorado Springs. In Nov. 2011, Margot Lane, announced a $4 million gift from herself and the John E. and Margaret L. Lane Foundation to UCCS and Peak Vista.
Mrs. Lane, CU Regent Kyle Hybl, CU President Bruce Benson, Peak Vista CEO Pam McManus and El Paso County Commission Amy Lathen are expected to offer brief remarks at the event followed by a 70-person strong groundbreaking event.
“Many, many people are involved in making the Lane Center happen,” Brian Burnett, vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, said. “From the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority, to our partners at Peak Vista, the leadership of the University of Colorado to the contractors and architects tasked with turning a dream into reality, we are working together. The large number of people involved in the groundbreaking reflects that cooperation.”
Workers from GE Johnson Construction Company, Colorado Springs, are expected to begin actual construction in September and be onsite until the building is completed in Jan. 2014. A Denver architecture firm, Anderson Mason Dale Architects, will design the building to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards.
The Lane Center is the first UCCS building slated for construction on the redeveloped North Nevada Avenue. In late 2009, local developers Kevin Kratt and Tom Cone celebrated nine years of planning and construction of the 650,000 square foot University Village Colorado in an area previously declared an urban blight zone and occupied by shabby motels and other buildings. UVC, located on private property on the west side of North Nevada, brought large retail outlets as well as small restaurants and shops to the area. The university’s development on the east side of North Nevada, while on public property, will compliment UVC and utilize upgraded municipal infrastructure designed to make access to the Lane Center easy. UCCS hopes to continue development on the east side of North Nevada in phases.
For more information about the Peak Vista and UCCS partnership and the Lane gift, please visit http://pressreleases.uccs.edu/?p=768
To watch a video of Mrs. Lane and fellow UCCS alumnus Jim Gallogy please visit http://youtu.be/SFgg7I9E7w8. Both were honored for their contributions to the university as part of May commencement ceremonies.
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