Canisius College Buys Former HealthNow Building
Canisius College purchased HealthNow's former headquarters at 1901 Main Street yesterday from Uniland Development Co. The three-story building will be transformed into Science Hall, an interdisciplinary science center. Canisius paid $18.45 million for the building and an adjacent parking ramp. HealthNow relocated to downtown in 2007.
At an anticipated cost of $47 million, Science Hall is the largest initiative of A Legacy of Leadership: The Campaign for Canisius College. In September 2007, Canisius announced plans to raise $90 million by the year 2010 for capital improvements and to enhance the college’s endowment. A Legacy of Leadership is the largest fund-raising initiative in the college’s 138-year history. As of late-July, Canisius has secured nearly $62 million in commitments toward its $90 million goal.
The newly-acquired building is best known as the site of the former Sears Roebuck store, which operated there from 1920 until 1980. It consists of a main building with 237,000 total square feet (170,000 net usable square feet) set on three and a half acres and a three-level parking ramp with a total of 1,350 spaces. Conversion is expected to commence next year.
Science Hall will bring together in one location the college’s science programs. In addition to classrooms, laboratories, offices and support spaces to accommodate faculty research programs, the building will also have interdisciplinary research training facilities to support the college’s move into new disciplinary programs such as bioinformatics, quantitative sciences, robotics, cellular molecular biology, analytical chemistry and neuroscience.
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Sal
It's nice to hear about that level of investment going in and around Canisius College.
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MEC
Great for Canisius, this really helps bring the campus together.
It amazes me how a parking ramp can take up more land than the building.
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queenseyes
Looks like there is plenty of room for green roofs and solar panels as seen in the top photo. That would go hand-in-hand with scientific eco-studies.
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Buffalo21stcentury
This is a very old story...it has been public knowledge for a long time.
The REAL question should be what is the next big project for Canisius. How about replacing the Koessler Ahtletic Center or demolishing that round tower that ruins the frontage...
Or how about something really big like buying out Medaille College. Canisius takes over all of Medaille and Medaille gets a brand new campus someplace else.
Hey the economy is in the toilet so this is a great time for big economic impact projects. Light Rail extensions anyone? Yup, I will certainly take a 500million dollar infusion into our local economy.
Whats the next big project for Canisius and Buffalo State?
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jmn3
Believe this one or not...but as both an undergrad and grad student at Canisius, I've gotten this story regarding "The Tower" from some very good sources in the college administration... Apparently, the person/family that the building is named after (Churchill is the last name, I can't recall the first) is still living. There is something within the agreement that was put in place years and years ago when the funding was given to the college that the building couldn't be removed or have the name changed. Now, I have no idea why they couldn't just change the name to another building on campus (similar to UB moving Lockwood Library), and I also can't confirm this is 100% accurate, but it is the story I've heard from various sources regarding why that hideous tower is still standing.
The campus would really take on a completely different feel if that parking lot, tower, library, and Bagen building were removed from the Main Street frontage. Old Main is such a great building it is just a shame more isn't visible from Main Street considering it and the dome on top of it are such key figures for Canisius.
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jmn3
Believe this one or not...but as both an undergrad and grad student at Canisius, I've gotten this story regarding "The Tower" from some very good sources in the college administration... Apparently, the person/family that the building is named after (Churchill is the last name, I can't recall the first) is still living. There is something within the agreement that was put in place years and years ago when the funding was given to the college that the building couldn't be removed or have the name changed. Now, I have no idea why they couldn't just change the name to another building on campus (similar to UB moving Lockwood Library), and I also can't confirm this is 100% accurate, but it is the story I've heard from various sources regarding why that hideous tower is still standing.
The campus would really take on a completely different feel if that parking lot, tower, library, and Bagen building were removed from the Main Street frontage. Old Main is such a great building it is just a shame more isn't visible from Main Street considering it and the dome on top of it are such key figures for Canisius.
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sonyactivision
Forget the round tower, Canisius should demo this garbage and build something inspiring.
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Buffalo21stcentury
Actually, Id like to see them extend the 3 story building on Main all the way to Delevan and connect each floor via walkway that floor in the parking deck.
Remembering my days as a student...anything that saves a student from a walking in the dark, cold, snow, rain or wind multiple times on a daily basis is a blessing.
Hey I like to ski and I like the snow...and I like the four seasons but lets just be honest...its not pleasant in the winter.
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