Lang
9/17/21
The Iowa Board of Regents has approved almost $30 million in funding to renovate MacLean Hall on the University of Iowa campus.
MacLean Hall houses Iowa’s computer science and math departments. On Thursday, the Regents approved the university’s $27.9 million legislative request to modernize the building, which is situated on the southwest corner of the Pentacrest. The request now will go to the Iowa Legislature for consideration during the next session, which begins in January. State funding for building projects at institutions the board oversees is considered separately from general, ongoing expenses.
The MacLean renovations would be the first in a series of what university officials describe as sorely needed upgrades to three of the five buildings that make up the Pentacrest—MacLean, Jessup, and Macbride halls—that have remained largely untouched for 100 years.
The other two buildings, the Old Capitol and Schaeffer Hall, were renovated in 2006 and 1998, respectively. Plans to update MacLean, Jessup, and Macbride were in the works as early as 2007, but were derailed by catastrophic flooding the following summer that forced the university to reprioritize its construction itinerary.