University of Iowa memorial union update taking shape

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa is moving ahead with a $75 million modernization of its nearly century-old memorial union, including plans to transform its former Iowa House Hotel into a new student well-being center and create a new “public plaza” overlooking the Iowa River.

Through the renovation of about 93,000 “IMU” square feet, the university plans to trade the strip parking lot separating the Iowa Memorial Union and Hubbard Park for a new veranda that will wrap the south and east sides — creating a “front porch for relaxation, study, and socializing.”

“The new space will be more inviting and pedestrian friendly and will provide a direct connection between the IMU and Hubbard Park,” UI officials said in sharing more details this week about the project.

The renovation will update and expand food service options, meeting spaces, and multipurpose rooms, according to a request for qualifications from prospective project planners and designers the university issued this week.

Mental health emphasis

A new IMU public plaza — adjacent its food service options — will aim to create a “favorite hangout” for students on the west side of the union, offering a view of the river and additional time spent outdoors.

“Research shows that spending time outside or connected to the outdoors improves mental health,” UI officials said about the patio part of the project. “Architects will use this principle so that students will have more direct connection to the spaces along the river, natural light, and nature elements within and outside the building.”

That mental health emphasis is central to the university’s decision to exchange its Iowa House Hotel — which has been hosting campus and community visitors since 1965 — for a new “student well-being center.”

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“The footprint of the current Iowa House Hotel will be remodeled to house services such as Student Health, University Counseling Service, and other wellness and support programs,” according to the university, noting it will offer resources for students “experiencing urgent concerns,” along with flex space for meetings, study, meditation, relaxation, art, and music.

Right now, UI Student Health and the campus counseling service is located on the west side of campus, across the river in a 104-year-old building slated to be torn down. In 2021, according to Board of Regents documents, the university projected its demolition would cut $20.4 million in deferred maintenance expenses — including asbestos abatement.

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Price tag and savings

The IMU update also aims to address its swelling $55 million in deferred maintenance costs — having been built nearly a century ago in 1925. Although the now 362,729-square-foot core campus hub has seen several upgrades, additions, and renovations over the years — including one in the 1960s that added on the 112-room Iowa House Hotel and another following devastating damage from the 2008 flood — its aging infrastructure has resulted in “inherent deficiencies and ongoing issues.”

The renovation project will happen in two phases, with a total cost of $75 million. That is down from an initial price tag of $81.1 million. University officials didn’t immediately explain the amended cost, which will be covered “primarily through a new student fee of $100 to $120 per semester.”

That fee was supported by the Undergraduate Student and Graduate and Professional Student Governments, as union improvements and amenities “have long been requested by the student body,” according to the university’s request for interested firms to program, plan, and design the renovations.

“Schematic design will begin immediately following notification of the selected firm,” according to the RFQ, which indicates a timeline wrapping after consultant interviews in November.

The goal of the project is to finish phase one in time for the union’s 100th anniversary in 2025. The first-phase debut also would align with the 10th anniversary of the IMU’s flood-renovation project — which cost $27.5 million and was completed in 2015.

Although administrators at that time had thought about modernizing the space and adding amenities — like a bowling alley the union once housed — they opted to restore the IMU ground floor to its pre-flood function and design scope to maximize reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com