Yes, it is indeed happening.
With the announcement of the gift of $110 million from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, the wheels that have been turning for years to replace Building 521 with a new School of Medicine building began to turn a bit faster. Included in the gift was $30 million for a new, state-of-the-art facility to house the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. When it’s completed, the new building will be the flagship facility for medical education and discovery in the Mountain West.
The programming and design work for the new facility builds upon the shoulders of those who made Building 521 and University of Utah Health a renowned hub of teaching and innovation. When the project breaks ground, it will be the culmination of years of hard work and collaboration from U of U Health leadership, faculty, staff, and students.
Surrounding the new School of Medicine project are a number of related projects that are to be completed both before and after the new School of Medicine building is constructed.
Medical Research & Education Building Demolition
When we discuss demolition, Building 521 is the hot topic. However, the first step in the demolition process is the removal of the adjacent Medical Research & Education Building (MREB). The building is one of the oldest on campus, supported 100% by systems in Building 521. Because we need the room, it will be demolished first.
The current residents of MREB are being moved to other locations, a process that will continue into the fall of 2021. Once the moves are complete, abatement and other preparatory work will commence before demolition begins in early 2022.
The final piece of the MREB project will give the adjacent Wintrobe Research & Education Building a new exterior.
Healthcare, Educators, Leaders & Innovators Complex (HELIX)
The faculty and staff of University of Utah Health have dedicated their careers to offering the best care for their patients, the best education for their students, and research breakthroughs to change the world. The Healthcare, Educators, Leaders & Innovators Complex, or HELIX, is a facility dedicated to giving those faculty and staff the best place to do their work. The new office building will house members from a number of U of U Health departments in a space designed to support creativity and collaboration.
HELIX is a crucial project as many of the current residents of Building 521 will relocate to HELIX when it is completed in early 2023.
Building 521 Demolition
Since it was first completed in the 1960s, Building 521 has served U of U Health well as a home for compassionate care for patients, excellence in education for students, and world-class discovery and innovation. Yet, time has worn the building down and it can no longer support the needs of a top-tier academic medical program for decades to come.
The occupants of Building 521 have been moving out to other locations for the past couple of years, a process that continues. Once construction on the new School of Medicine building is underway, the demolition of Building 521 will begin in 2023.
An Important Work
University of Utah Health’s Campus Transformation has already made a great impact with buildings like the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital, University Hospital Area E, and the Sugar House Health Center. The new School of Medicine building, along with the subsequent demolition of Building 521, is a major milestone on the path we walk toward a future that requires an expanded and highly-trained workforce along with the discoveries and innovations that are needed to confront the healthcare challenges of an increasingly complex world.