New Building
New dental school, conference center to be finished soon
(March 6, 2012) -- Construction of a new dental school and conference center remains under budget and ahead of schedule, with both scheduled for completion this spring, said University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry Dean John A. Valenza, DDS. At the end of the $155-million project, UTHealth will have a new, 300,000-square-foot, six-story dental school at 7500 Cambridge St. — the first new address for the 106-year-old school since 1955. The new building is also connected to the UT Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Building (BBSB), where many of the dental school’s basic science researchers have been located since May 2010. Adjacent to the new dental school will be the Denton A. Cooley, MD and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS University Life Center, a 14,000-square-foot conference center named in honor of the world-famous heart surgeon and his father, who was a 1908 alumnus of the school. The conference center’s landscaped courtyard is already taking shape, visible on the north side of the new dental school building. Both projects were designed by WHR Architects of Houston, with Hensel Phelps Construction Co. as the general contractor. UTHealth Senior Project Manager Anthony “Tony” Lentola said the work is under budget and ahead of schedule. The health science center expects to take possession of the new school in early April, allowing time to prepare for move-in after the May 18 graduation ceremony. Currently, the goal is to be open on Monday, May 21 with minimal disruption of services. A formal ribbon-cutting is planned for Friday, June 8, with an open house on Saturday, June 9 for UTSD employees, students and their families. A surface parking lot will be available across from the school’s East Road entrance. |
