During the fall of 2017, DMU began a multi-phase program of renovations across campus. Competitive reviews of bidding organizations resulted in the selection of a joint project team of InVision Architecture and Graham Construction for the work. That December, the fifth floor of the Academic Center and the ninth floor of the DMU Clinic building were vacated and gutted simultaneously, bound for complete upgrades and creative finishes.
The first two renovation projects were completed on schedule within six months. As the occupants of the spaces began returning to their new homes in June 2018, the second phase began in the College of Osteopathic Medicine area on the first floor of the Academic Center and on the eighth floor of the DMU Clinic building, which is the new home of the Physical Therapy Clinic.
“These new spaces are nothing short of amazing,” says Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., DMU president and CEO. “These important projects send the clear signal that DMU is on an exceptional path of innovation and advancement. And as we have just begun the public phase of the largest capital campaign in the history of DMU – Purple & Proud: the Campaign for Des Moines University – we are inviting people to visit campus and share in DMU’s continuing success. Our campus and people are living proof of the strength of the University in creating exciting opportunities in teaching, learning, research and public service for all of our constituents.”
Scheduled for this summer is the new home of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery and its Foot and Ankle clinic, which in mid-February was in the last design stage. The sixth floor of the clinic is being renovated to accommodate them with an anticipated move in December 2019.
Since the last major construction on campus occurred nearly 15 years ago, advancements in technology and materials provide for substantial enhancements to the University’s teaching and research activities.
“We are lucky to have a joint team of architects, interior designers, construction and engineering professionals, and all of the subcontractors working in unison,” says Mark Peiffer, CPA, M.B.A., senior vice president and chief financial officer, who serves as chair of the University’s campus renovations committee.
Renovation of the Olsen Center, DMU’s multi-use facility, is under way. Its doors will reopen in April.
