University of Tampa leaders came together Wednesday to break ground on one of the educational institution’s largest academic facility projects.
The 153,000-square-foot Dickey Science Innovation Center, located near the Hillsborough River on UTampa’s downtown campus, will be a hub for the College of Natural and Health Sciences. It will house the biology, chemistry and biochemistry departments. Additionally, forensic science and marine science programs will be based at the new five-story building.
It is expected to be completed by the fall of 2028 or spring of 2029.
Features include 25 teaching and 23 research laboratories, three microscopy rooms, four aquarium research laboratories, a bioinformatics and computational sciences classroom, two tissue culture laboratories and 73 faculty offices.
“Sciences and healthcare are two of the most important areas for growth in this region and, frankly, in the nation,” UTampa College of Natural and Health Sciences dean Paul Greenwood told the Catalyst. “Especially for the bench sciences, biology and chemistry, we haven’t made a structural investment for quite a number of years.”
He explained that the two departments are spread across multiple buildings on the campus. This is “just not a formula for success.” It has resulted in students working in more isolated locations.
Creating “one large, well-equipped building that’s really designed around the students and the student learning experience,” Greenwood said, “is something that I’ve been working on for the nine years I’ve been here.”
A rendering of a laboratory in the new Dickey Science Innovation Center. Image: University of Tampa/HDR Architects.
UTampa staff and the landscape architects for the project have even collaborated on the facility’s outdoor spaces. They are developing areas that support botanical research and the overall academic curriculum experience.
The center will also encourage more interactions between faculty and students. He explained that the building will allow them to “collide intellectually.”
Greenwood added that the design of the facility is unique in comparison to other structures on the property. The side of the building that faces the inside of the campus will feature red brick, which is a traditional UTampa architectural element. The side that faces the Hillsborough River will incorporate glass. “It really welcomes that interaction between the Tampa Bay community and the university,” he said.
UTampa leaders began to have conversations with HDR Architects about the project more than three years ago, Greenwood explained. While a groundbreaking was held this week, site preparation has been in the works for several months.
The construction will be supported by a gift from the Dr. Stephen F. and Marsha Dickey family. Dr. Dickey, a trustee emeritus of the UTampa board of trustees, founded the Tampa-based Doctor’s Walk-In Clinic.
“The design reflects an understanding that science, technology and how we teach and learn will continue to evolve,” he said in a prepared statement. “This facility will strengthen the University of Tampa’s ability to attract high-quality students and faculty and will benefit the entire University community.”