Hunter
01/23/23
The Iowa Memorial Union will begin renovations in 2024, ahead of the building’s 100th anniversary.
The Iowa Now website reports the building, opened in 1925, will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation project, bringing together clinical health services, mental health counseling, wellness programs, and student care resources, such as the food pantry and case management for students experiencing emergencies, in one place. Meeting space, ballrooms, and multipurpose rooms will be updated, renovated, or added, as will food service options.
Part of the renovations include closing the Iowa House Hotel late this year or early 2024. That space will be converted into space for student counseling and student care.
Dean of Students Eric Rossow said in early October that renovation is a less expensive alternative to replacing the building altogether. Estimated cost for phase one of the renovation exceeds $63 million, with the total budget over $81 million. Estimates to replace the building reached $245 million.
Rossow added that a moratorium on renovations after the 2008 flood has been lifted by FEMA, prompting the plans to modify the building. The plan is to complete phase one of the renovations by the IMU’s 100th anniversary in 2025.