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Regents committee recommends UI health‑sciences upgrades, approves razing of two campus houses
Summary
The Board of Regents' Property & Facilities Committee recommended four University of Iowa health‑sciences schematic projects — including a $12.2 million downtown radiology upgrade — and approved razing two surplus houses to expand campus access and surface parking; approvals were recommended by general consent.
Rod Leonard, presenting for the University of Iowa, told Regents the board was being asked to approve four schematic‑design capital projects and two property‑raising requests on the health‑sciences and adjacent campuses.
The most expensive item is a $12,200,000 radiology department upgrade at the University of Iowa Health Care downtown campus, described as “phase 1” of a larger modernization set to begin construction later this spring and continue through 2028. Leonard also outlined a $4,900,000 relocation and combined sleep‑lab fit‑out in Coralville, an $11,000,000 first‑floor lab renovation at the Carver College of Medicine Bowen Science Building, and a $4,000,000 HVAC/IT controls and server upgrade for the John and Mary Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building.
Leonard said the Cannon Gay House, an 1884 structure with long‑standing basement and structural problems, would be razed and the university is working with the city of Iowa City to preserve historic features by applying the city’s historic designation to the nearby Sancse (Sangse) House the university intends to maintain and repurpose for limited on‑campus use. He added the Cannon Gay House would cost more than $1,000,000 just to remediate the basement for safe public use, while work to make the Sancse House first‑floor usable was expected to be “less than $100,000” pending facilities assessment.
The committee raised questions about historic‑preservation tradeoffs and next steps for reactivation of the Sancse House. After discussion, the Property & Facilities Committee recommended approval of the four projects and the two razing requests by general consent.
Why it matters: the projects aim to update aging research and patient‑care infrastructure on the University of Iowa’s downtown and health‑sciences campuses and to rationalize nearby surface circulation and parking. The board moved the items forward by general consent; no separate roll‑call votes were recorded for these docket items at the committee level.
What’s next: approvals recommended by the committee will be forwarded to the full Board of Regents for final action as part of the board docket.
