By Izabela Zaluska 

Construction on the state-of-the-art $249 million Health Sciences Academic Building, which will be home to two College of Liberal Arts and Sciences departments, is on schedule and moving along smoothly. 

Substantial completion of the six-level building is anticipated in 2025, with final completion in summer 2026. The facility will be a hub for innovative teaching and learning, community outreach, experiential learning, research, and more. 

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, is anticipated to move in late 2025, with the Department of Health and Human Physiology moving in mid 2026. The building will also be home to Carver College of Medicine's physical therapy and rehabilitation science program. 

The new building will have a rooftop adaptive play space for the child life, disabilities, and communication sciences and disorders programs. The food science and nutrition lab will be used for practicum courses in nutrition and health. Both features will add unique hands-on learning opportunities for students. 

The building will also have research labs to support clinical and basic science research, student-centered anatomy and exercise teaching labs, health testing services for the community, as well as sales and podcasting experiential learning spaces in sports and recreation management. 

“This building will provide cutting edge spaces for innovative teaching and learning to provide foundational knowledge and train the next generation of health, sport management, child life and therapeutic recreation professionals,” said Gary Pierce, professor and DEO of the Department of Health and Human Physiology. 

Construction on the building, located on the west side of campus at the corner of Melrose and South Grand avenues, began last fall. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 31, 2023.  

Earlier this summer, CLAS faculty and leadership signed a beam during a topping-out ceremony—signaling another construction milestone with the final beam being placed.  

The new clinical space and research laboratories will benefit the community, said Eric Hunter, DEO of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. 

“This building will be a physical representation to the work of so many people who have helped make Iowa a leader in audiology and speech-language pathology,” said Hunter, who is also the Harold S. Brady Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences. “The proximity with health and human physiology will allow for new opportunities and synergies, creating a competitive advantage that will be a draw for students and faculty from around the world.” 

You can follow construction progress by watching the project’s webcam.