Original Story: dbusiness.com
Grand Valley State University broke ground Tuesday on Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall in Grand Rapids, a five-story, 84,000-square-foot building, and an accompanying parking area. The new, $46.5 million health campus development will support the school’s College of Health Professions and Kirkhof College of Nursing.
Named after area business leader Raleigh J. Finkelstein, who was the first and lead donor for the project, the new building, located at 500 Lafayette Ave., will include four classrooms, 15 teaching laboratories, a computer lab, and 90 faculty and staff offices and parking spaces. The project also includes student study spaces, student organization space, and work/break rooms. The College of Health Professions offers more than 15 health degree programs.
With more than 5,000 students enrolled in Grand Valley's health-related courses, officials with the school say its Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, which oped in 2003 on Grand Rapids' Medical Mile, has been over-capacity for the last four years.
Provost Gayle R. Davis says the expansion will allow for additional programming and will accommodate more students to meet the demand for Grand Valley graduates in the university’s 19 health professions and nursing programs.
“We will be able to add new health sciences programs as they become needed by our regional and statewide health care providers,” she says. “Expanding our classroom and laboratory facilities will create more opportunities for students to attain the foundation they need prior to their clinical experiences.” Ferris State University in Michigan offers many healthcare degree programs.
Construction on the project is expected to be completed in May 2018.
Donor support, university-issued bonds, and campus development funds are funding the expansion’s budget — $37.5 million for the building and $9 million for the parking project.
Grand Rapids-based Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr, and Huber is the project architect, and Grand Rapids-based Rockford Construction Co. is the construction manager.
