Restoration work will begin soon on the flood-damaged Iowa Memorial Union on the University of Iowa campus which was ravaged by the Iowa River in 2008. University President Sally Mason says construction will start next spring, with completion by the spring of 2015, though that means an entire class of U-I students will miss out.
“Students graduating from the University of Iowa now have never been in the bottom two floors of the IMU, Iowa Memorial Union, nor have they ever been in Hancher Auditorium.” Mason says. “They have no idea what those facilities were to our campus.”
She notes an entire class of students has never experienced some of the most beautiful spaces on campus. Mason says students have completed an entire curriculum without entering the IMU, Hancher or the art and music buildings.
“Our art students graduating now only know Menards as their home and its been their home for the last four years,” Mason says. “Our music students are still confused about where their home is, because there are seven different locations throughout Iowa City.”
Mason says a dispute with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over funding may delay repair work on other major campus buildings.