The University of Iowa is moving forward with a $37 million remodeling of its old Art Building, which has been vacant since a 2008 flood hit the Iowa City campus.
Plans call for the historic facility to become the home of the Graduate College, the university says.
The Art Building was spared from demolition after the 2008 flood because of its historical significance. Several preliminary plans for the building’s use were identified in the years since the flood, but none took hold.
Now, as the university moves forward with its 10-year facilities master plan, the building has been identified as the future home of the Graduate College, which will vacate Gilmore Hall.
“The Graduate College is excited to move to the old Art Building, where the modernized space will serve as a central hub for graduate students,” says Amanda Thein, dean of the Graduate College. “It will offer a welcoming environment for meeting with staff and engaging in professional development, community-building, and networking opportunities.”
Iowa’s Graduate College makes up nearly one-fifth of the university’s enrollment.
The Art Building, which was built during the Great Depression, was the first of its kind to bring together the then revolutionary study of art and art history and studio art courses, called the Iowa Idea. Artist Grant Wood taught and worked in the building from the time it opened in 1936 until just before his death in 1942.
After the 2008 flood extensively damaged the building, the university and the Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed that it would be restored later when a programmatic need was identified.
Since that time, extensive site work has taken place adjacent to the building to protect it from potential rising waters, including a new sidewalk system that can support the erection of a HESCO wall barrier system used in emergency flood events.
In addition, the mechanical, electrical, information technology, and elevator systems were relocated to the second floor. Furniture and equipment used in the lower level of the building will be designed to be easily removed if a future flood should threaten.
The remodeling is estimated to be complete by summer 2026.
