Hancher, School of Music rebuilding plans

University of Iowa officials want to rebuild flood-damaged Hancher Auditorium near where the current Hancher Voxman Clapp facility sits, but up the hill near the Levitt Center, out of the flood plain. The School of Music facility will be separated from Hancher, under the UI plan announced today, and rebuilt in downtown Iowa City, near the intersection of Clinton and Burlington streets.

UI officials will take the site selections to the state Board of Regents for approval Feb. 4. The cost estimate remains about $276 million for rebuilding Hancher and the School of Music, of which FEMA will pay the majority.

UI officials are in talks with owners of the private properties downtown that make up the proposed School of Music site. The site includes four separate property owners, and Doug True, UI vice president for business and finance, today said the discussions are "positive."  If negotiation can't be reached for the UI to buy that land, officials do have a back-up plan to put the School of Music in the area near the rebuilt Hancher on the arts campus, officials said today.

"I think it's an exciting opportunity for Iowa City" to put the School of Music downtown, UI President Sally Mason said today.

It will be several years before either project is finished, officials said, possibly at least five years before a new Hancher is completed and open.