Groundbreaking today for pioneering health sciences center

Architect's rendering of the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs will begin construction of the $18.5 million Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences, the first university building in the North Nevada Avenue urban renewal zone, with a groundbreaking ceremony at 9 a.m. today.

UPDATE: For photos and more information from Thursday's groundbreaking, see UCCS Communique coverage here.

Leaders of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, El Paso County, city of Colorado Springs, Peak Vista Community Health Centers and Lane family members will participate in ceremonies at the northeast corner of Austin Bluffs and North Nevada Avenue.

“This promises to be a historic day for UCCS and for Colorado Springs,” UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “As community leaders, we will mark the collaboration between public university, health care, municipal government and private citizens to create new models and a better Colorado Springs.”

Said Pam McManus, president and CEO, Peak Vista Community Health Centers, “The senior population of El Paso County is projected to triple over the next 30 years. This remarkable collaboration opens ways to offer the very finest integrated health care to that growing community. To partner with a visionary organization like the University of Colorado and their dedicated staff and leadership is an honor and is another example of how the Pikes Peak Region remains one of the most attractive places for seniors to live a full and vibrant life. Our deepest appreciation goes out to Margot Lane and her family for their extremely generous donation which supports Peak Vista’s ability to open the new Lane Family Senior Health Center.”

The four-story, 54,000-square-foot building will be larger than Main Hall on the UCCS campus and its architecture will resemble that of UCCS signature buildings Dwire Hall and Osborne Center for Science and Engineering. The building will be home to the Lane Family Senior Health Center operated by Peak Vista Community Health Centers as well as the CU Aging Center, the Gerontology Center, the Trauma Health and Hazards Center and clinics operated by the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The building provides potential space for the CU School of Medicine. UCCS faculty will use the Lane Center to demonstrate models where physical and mental health care are closely integrated and to provide UCCS students with hands-on clinical experience.

The Lane Center is named in honor of the Lane family of Colorado Springs. In November 2011, Margot Lane announced a $4 million gift from her and the John E. and Margaret L. Lane Foundation to UCCS and Peak Vista.

Lane, CU Regent Kyle Hybl, CU President Bruce Benson, Peak Vista CEO Pam McManus, El Paso County Commissioner Amy Lathen and Colorado Springs City Council President Scott Hente are expected to offer brief remarks at the event followed by a 70-person groundbreaking event.

“Many, many people are involved in making the Lane Center happen,” said Brian Burnett, vice chancellor, Administration and Finance. “From the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority, to our partners at Peak Vista, the leadership of the University of Colorado to the contractors and architects tasked with turning a dream into reality, we are working together. The large number of people involved in the groundbreaking reflects that cooperation.”

Workers from GE Johnson Construction Company, Colorado Springs, are expected to begin actual construction in September and be onsite until the building is completed in January 2014. A Denver architecture firm, Anderson Mason Dale Architects, will design the building to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards.

The Lane Center is the first UCCS building slated for construction on the redeveloped North Nevada Avenue. In late 2009, local developers Kevin Kratt and Tom Cone celebrated nine years of planning and construction of the 650,000-square-foot University Village Colorado in an area previously declared an urban blight zone and occupied by shabby motels and other buildings. UVC, located on private property on the west side of North Nevada, brought large retail outlets and small restaurants and shops to the area. The university’s development on the east side of North Nevada, while on public property, will compliment UVC and utilize upgraded municipal infrastructure designed to make access to the Lane Center easy. UCCS hopes to continue development on the east side of North Nevada in phases.

For more information about Peak Vista, its UCCS partnership and the Lane gift, please visit http://pressreleases.uccs.edu/?p=768

To watch a video of Lane and fellow UCCS alumnus Jim Gallogy please visit http://youtu.be/SFgg7I9E7w8. Both were honored for their contributions to the university as part of May commencement ceremonies.