University of Iowa seeks expansion, renovation of Tippie College of Business

The University of Iowa is seeking approval to move forward with expansion and renovation plans for the Tippie College of Business, a project with an estimated cost of $45-$60 million. Since the Tippie College of Business moved to the 30-year-old Pappajohn Business Building, its programs and students have doubled. “As the University of Iowa continues to right-size the General Fund/academic campus and plans for additional removal of outdated/obsolete facilities, the Tippie College of Business is one academic unit identified as having a significant need for additional space,” stated the University’s request. The expansion of the college’s teaching, research and corporate partnership/entrepreneurial spaces are in accordance with the 2022 UI Campus Master Plan, the request said, and subsequent studies explored the possibility of “adding space” or constructing a new building to the east of the Pappajohn Business Building, at a cost of $15-$20 million. Additionally, UI officials have also researched the possibility of reusing the adjacent Gilmore Hall, whose modernization has an estimated cost of $30-$40 million. “All options have merit and would be further evaluated as part of the expansion project effort. However, when matching donor/partner dollars with programmatic space needs, the UI intends to target and study a reprogramming and modernization of Gilmore Hall, as well as a student and event space addition within the internal courtyard patio space at (the Pappajohn),” the request said. The historic Gilmore Hall, built in 1910 to house the College of Law, houses several academic and research departments and is part of the University’s master plan for the Pentacrest area. Currently, the building is operating with roughly $8 million in outstanding deferred maintenance needs, the request proposal stated. Under the master plan, those departments would be relocated to make way for renovations, freeing up 43,000 square feet that could accommodate current and future academic needs of the Tippie College of Business. Based on pre-planning and a Tippie/University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA) fundraising effort, the UI would bid the Gilmore Hall work separately from the (the Pappajohn) work, allowing for “better bidding and construction scheduling efficiencies” as well as effective alignment with intended fundraising efforts. The project’s entirety would be funded by private gifts, Tippie College revenues, and reserves. Of the projected $45-$60 million budget, $8 million would be funded by the UI General Fund to address Gilmore Hall’s deferred maintenance needs.

Project to impact other facilities

The units relocated from Gilmore Hall – including the UI Graduate College – will be accommodated by other campus renovations, the request stated. Some of those renovations include the 1936 Art Building, which was decommissioned after the 2008 flood but protected and maintained in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). UI studies showed the Art Building would “serve as an ideal and modernized home for the Graduate College and other related UI academic units,” and bidding for the renovations are expected to begin in Fall 2024. Additionally, the current UI project to relocate the Computer Science Department from MacLean Hall on the Pentacrest to the Iowa Advanced Technology Labs facility would make space available within MacLean Hall to host several College of Liberal Arts and Sciences programs, including the Religion Department, also currently housed in Gilmore Hall.