Renovation & Addition Update: Plan for Innovative Education Space Underway

November 18, 2019

In October 2018, the MUSC/MUHA (Medical University Hospital Authority) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to move forward with the design of innovative education space in the heart of the downtown Charleston campus. With construction tentatively set to begin in June 2020, the project is expected to take about 12 months and will result in three major outcomes:

• Dedicated space for the College of Pharmacy. The new College of Pharmacy will be located in a two-story addition to the BSB, facing the Horseshoe on the south side of the building.
• Significantly improved space through renovation of the major, shared BSB classrooms, which include rooms 100, 202, 302, 402 and 502. Dental Medicine classrooms are not affected.
• Renovation of all four floors of the Colbert Library with the main goal of adding student study rooms and spaces, as well as moving the Simulation Center from the College of Nursing to the library.

For anyone wondering why this renovation is needed, the answer is simple.

“These renovations and additions align with our institution’s academic strategic drivers to optimize collaboration, innovation, and maximal efficiency and flexibility,” said Lisa K. Saladin, PT, Ph.D., executive vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost. “Once the construction and renovations are completed, our entire enterprise will benefit from this investment.”

Since the whole building is being refurbished, during construction the Colbert Library will be completely evacuated. The transition plan calls for moving all the dislocated team members from BSB and the library to the former children’s hospital site on floors seven and eight. Innovation Station will take up temporary residence on the first floor of the 135 Cannon Street building.

Over the past year, the project management team has engaged with stakeholders from across campus, including students, faculty and numerous leaders, to solicit feedback during the planning process. Meeting every two weeks, the team has made significant progress: hiring architects, mapping out moves and temporary relocations, collecting spare furnishings to meet short-term needs, and all the while keeping an eye on the budget and the big picture.

“We all recognize that major construction on a university campus can be noisy and disruptive,” Saladin said. “We are working hard to consider and address the many needs of stakeholders across our enterprise. We appreciate your patience and flexibility and we plan to communicate with our MUSC community on a regular basis to advise everyone of next steps as this process unfolds.”

Watch for more communications coming soon about this important MUSC project.