UofM School of Public Health Building project finished

There is one less construction obstacle for University of Michigan students rushing to class. Renovation work on the university’s School of Public Health building, on Observatory Street, is substantially complete.

The restoration project on the Henry F Vaughan Public Health Building –named after the school’s first dean– includes renovating the oldest sections of the building as well as a 125,000-square-foot addition. The last piece of work included finishing renovations to the oldest part of the building. The addition was completed earlier this year.

The seven-floor addition spans Washington Heights to connect to the Thomas Francis Jr. building, another structure that is part of the School of Public Health named after a university doctor who helped pioneer flu shots. The addition houses modern open laboratories, instructional spaces, student and faculty interaction spaces, and offices.

“The SPH building project incorporates innovative design with state-of-the-art technology.  It sounds simple enough, but when you walk through this space, you get a sense for just how well it all comes together,” says Ken Warner, Dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “We’ve created a space where faculty, students, staff, and members of the public health community can easily come together to address many of today’s top public health priorities, ranging from prevention and control of infectious disease to new genetic technologies and public health preparedness. As well, the project will allow us to have all of our faculty housed together in the SPH complex for the first time in three decades.”

The Vaughan Building was constructed in 1942. A series of additions were built in the 1940’s and 50’s. The latest addition/renovation began in the summer of 2003.

Source: Diane Brown, senior information officer for facilities and operations at UofM
Writer: Jon Zemke