Mount Mercy graduate programs moving to former reserve center

A former army reserve training center in northeast Cedar Rapids is expected to become Mount Mercy University's Graduate Center by this time next year.

Tom Castle, Mount Mercy assistant provost and dean of adult and graduate programs, said the 26,500-square-foot complex at 1599 Wenig Rd. NE will house four graduate-level programs and a marriage and family therapy clinic.

The programs transferring to the facility include the master of arts in education, master of business administration, master of arts in marriage and family therapy, and master of science in nursing.

"We are hoping to get the keys to the property this fall," Castle said. "We hope to create a little nicer entrance, which might involve putting a new facade on the front of the building."

The Wenig Road complex, which is owned by the United States government, was used as an army and naval reserve training center until the new $38 million Cedar Rapids Armed Forces Reserve Center opened in October at 1500 Wright Brothers Blvd. SW.

Mount Mercy applied for a 100 percent grant to receive the 6.16-acre Wenig Road property at no cost under the provisions of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's program for disposal of surplus U.S. Department of Defense property. The Wenig Road complex has been turned over to the U.S. Department of Education, which will transfer ownership to Mount Mercy.

"We began working on this about five years ago," Castle said. "There were originally three applicants, including the City of Cedar Rapids. The third applicant dropped out fairly quickly and the city decided the property was not large enough for the kind of recreational center it was planning,"

Castle said if remodeling work can get started later this fall, classes likely will begin at the new Graduate Center in the fall 2013.

"Our contractors are ready to begin work as soon as we get the keys," he said. "We would like to start the work no later than October so we can get most of the exterior work done before winter.

"While the building is primarily classrooms and perfectly suited to our purpose, we have a lot of work to do to get it ready for classes."

Mount Mercy University expects approximately 150 faculty, staff and students will use graduate center on any given day, with about 150 vehicles per day using  the parking area of the complex. The marriage and family therapy clinic, which will be open during the day, will provide supervised clinical training for Mount Mercy students.

"The marriage and family clinic will be a wonderful benefit for the community by providing a cost-effective therapy option," Castle said. "The clinic will be available for a nominal fee and is designed as an educational practicum component of the curriculum.

"Right now, our students do their clinical assignments at locations in the community. The Graduate Center will have 10 to 12 rooms of various sizes equipped with one-day mirrors and video for everything from individual counseling to children's play therapy that will be supervised by our faculty."

Castle said the majority of the students who will attend class at the Graduate Center are adult learners who work during the day and attend classes at night.

"We have about 750 students in our adult and accelerated programs, including 350 students in our graduate-level programs," he said. "This will give us space to meet future needs, including possibly a daytime MBA program. Right now, we don't have enough classrooms available for a daytime program."

Under the provisions of the BRAC property transfer, Mount Mercy will receive the property for educational purposes. It will not be allowed to sell the property or use it for a non-educational purpose.

Castle said neighboring property owners signed a petition supporting the college's application. The Cedar Rapids City Council also approved the university's proposed use of the property.

Click here for an aerial view of the proposed Mount Mercy Graduate Center.