Construction on a new tech center at the University of Illinois at Chicago is scheduled to begin in June as the college makes room for its growing computer science department and establishes a “new front door for technology in Chicago.”
The Computer, Design, Research and Learning center will consolidate the college’s computer science department into one building, and is expected to be completed and open to students in fall 2023. The project will cost about $115 million, UIC said.
The 135,000-square foot center will house state-of-the-art equipment and research labs, and enable students to collaborate and innovate, the university said. The building will also include faculty offices, dry and specialty labs, as well as administrative offices and event spaces. The new center is the third academic building being built on UIC's east campus recently. Plans for the new building were announced last year, and UIC confirmed to the Chicago Business Journal that construction will begin in June.
“This project is a top priority to meet the needs of students in our growing computer science program and helps to strengthen the high-tech boom in Chicago,” said UIC Chancellor Michael D. Amiridis in a statement.
UIC’s computer science department, which is part of the College of Engineering, has grown to more than 1,500 students over the last 15 years, the college said. UIC said it predicts 2,450 computer science students by 2023. Overall, the College of Engineering had 5,400 students enrolled as of fall 2020.
The building is being designed by Seattle-based LMN Architects, and Chicago and San Francisco-based Booth Hansen, which has designed buildings for other institutions such as Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Part of the development and construction of the building is funded by the Rebuild Illinois plan, introduced in 2019 to funnel $45 million into economic developments projects around the state.
"This new learning center on the UIC campus, made possible through funding from our historic bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan, will further cement the university's place as a world-class institution that excels in preparing talented students for the careers of tomorrow," said Gov. JB Pritzker in a statement.
At the end of February, Pritzker announced that the state has awarded $11 million in grants to support 11 other projects across the state, ranging from Chicago to Peoria.
