UCD breaks ground on seven buildings at Fitzsimons Campus
Vision becomes reality as final phase of planned construction begins
What is fast becoming one of the newest and most modern medical research and patient care centers in the country will soon get even bigger and better.
The University of Colorado Denver held a commemorative groundbreaking ceremony on April 10 to mark the beginning of the final phase of planned construction at the Fitzsimons campus in Aurora. Seven new educational buildings – including a new library and classroom facilities – began construction this month as part of efforts to complete the vision of a premier research, academic and patient care center in Colorado.
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| Academic Office West |
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| Education Facility 1B |
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| Education 2/Education Bridge/Academic Office East |
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| Environmental Health and Safety 2 |
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| Facility Support Building |
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| Library |
These new facilities will enable students in the Health Sciences Center’s medical, nursing, pharmacy and graduate schools to complete their higher education goals in state-of-the-art surroundings. With the new Children’s Hospital, slated to open summer 2007, a planned Veterans Administration Medical Center and the adjacent Colorado Bioscience Park Aurora, the Fitzsimons campus will heighten its reputation as a powerhouse economic hub and top Colorado employer.
“ Fitzsimons will be a major job growth engine for Colorado, bringing in tens of thousands of new jobs. It is already home to some of the top clinics in the state staffed by some of the best physicians, nurses and health care professionals,” said CU President Hank Brown. “Add to that our medical research and what we have is a state teaching and research institution that not only cares for the health and well-being of Coloradans, but trains the next generation of health care providers.”
The latest education buildings at Fitzsimons are funded by $202 million in certificates of participation, or COPs, first earmarked by the Colorado General Assembly in 2003 as a way to pay for the re-development of the former Army medical center and a new correctional facility for the Colorado Department of Corrections at a separate location. The bill for the funding was passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bill Owens, but was later challenged in court by a prison rights organization that questioned the bill’s validity to fund separate facilities.
The citizens group also challenged the issuance of the COPs, which it claimed violated provisions in the Colorado Constitution prohibiting multi-year debt. In December 2005, following almost two years of legal challenges, the COPs were issued after the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ decisions in favor of the legislation.
The Fitzsimons groundbreaking drew a wide array of local, state and federal supporters, including honorary co-host Gov. Bill Owens; UCD Interim Chancellor Greg Stiegmann, MD; Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer; CU Regent Paul Schauer; Aurora Economic Development Council President Wendy Mitchell; members of the U.S. Congress; Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald; former Colorado Senate President Norma Anderson; and former Colorado House Speaker Lola Spradley.
“ We want to thank state lawmakers, Governor Owens, the private sector, business and community leaders and so many others who worked hard to make this final phase of the campus a reality,” Stiegmann said. “Bringing our students in the advanced health professions to the new campus will complete our vision of a world-class health sciences city in Aurora.”
The new buildings under construction at Fitzsimons include:
• Academic Office West, a 204,974-square-foot academic facility with conference rooms and offices for faculty, staff and campus programs.
• Library, a 113,005-square-foot hub of knowledge and home to administration, circulation, research, general use, a learning resource center, reference and resource services, systems databases, material storage, education and health informatics, information access and study space, a drug information center, and the History of Medicine collection.
• Education Facility 1B, a 115,980-square-foot building that will provide a setting for the integration of nursing, pharmacy, dental and medical students. It will include lecture halls, classrooms, laboratories and other academic amenities.
• Education 2/Education Bridge/Academic Office East, a 265,081-square-foot building designed to bring together faculty, students and programs in two interconnected structures.
• Facility Support Building, a 68,078 building that will house facilities operations programs, including maintenance shops, mail services, engineering and building safety, grounds maintenance, parking and transportation services.
• Environmental Health and Safety 2, a 7,356-square-foot structure that will provide waste handling to support UCD.
