Construction Begins on New Home for School of Pharmacy
To meet the increasing health care needs of a changing and rapidly aging society, the School of Pharmacy is constructing a new $59.5 million, 165,000 square-foot building. The new building will be a sustainably-built, collaborative center of learning, preparing students for their roles as pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. The site of the new building is located to the west of the campus library across from a beautiful and inviting quadrangle that will serve as the north entrance to the academic campus. It is projected to be ready for occupancy in late 2010, and will allow the school to increase faculty size by 50 percent and class size by 25 percent, to 160 students a year. Three floors of the four-story building will be dedicated to research, allowing the school to expand its pharmaceutical biotechnology program and create a drug-development center to focus on new medications. Both programs are already underway but there is currently no room to expand.
When the new facility is completed, the school will be renamed the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in recognition of the Skaggs family and The ALSAM Foundation for their long-standing support of the school. In late 2006, the Foundation committed $10 million for the construction of the new building – the largest gift in the school's history. This was followed by a grant of $1 million in 2008. Sam Skaggs and the Skaggs family are nationally recognized as pioneers in the retail drug and grocery business and as generous philanthropists.
“The prospect of a new building to house the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences begins an exciting new era for pharmacy education, research and patient care in Colorado,” said School of Pharmacy Dean Ralph Altiere. “With a state-of-the-art facility to take us into the future, we can build upon our tradition of excellence and strengthen our position as one of the nation’s top pharmacy schools.”
Architect's rendering of the new Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Building
Images from the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Building.
Watch the progress of the construction of the new building.
Last updated: 4/10/09