New University of Iowa Hospital Tower to Replace Popular Landmark

There are few things that are certain in life. Death, taxes, and construction at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Plenty more work is on the way.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) has announced that "more than 2,000 Iowans" wait for transfers to the hospital each year because of "adult inpatient bed occupancy rates that are above industry standards." Due to the space crunch, UIHC is going to build a new inpatient tower. Before that can happen, there's much to be done.

The highlighted portion at the top of the image below is where the new hospital tower will go. That means that all of the structures in the way must go.

That means we say goodbye to Hospital Parking Ramp 1, the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center, and the water tower near Kinnick Stadium. Yep, we finally got the Tigerhawk on there a few years, and now it's coming down. Hang on, though.

A $70 million gift from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation is making the new inpatient hospital tower possible. It's expected to have over 200 beds with 48 on each floor. Plans also include a multi-story concourse to provide "a welcoming front door to the UIHC campus..." There's a lengthy list of things that will be included in the project. One of those is the expansion of Hospital Parking Ramp 2.

Before construction on the new hospital tower can start in 2025, the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center (off Hawkins Drive) has to be replaced. The new building will go up near the Gerdin Athletic Learning Center. That's west of Grand Avenue Court and south of Slater Residence Hall.

Back to the water tower, which is a giant storage tank for the entire University of Iowa campus. A new tower will be built to replace it. It will go up northwest of the Iowa football practice fields. It will store more water than the current one and should be finished in 2024.

You'll still have two more football seasons to enjoy seeing the Tigerhawk on the water tower north of Kinnick Stadium. It won't be dismantled until the spring of 2025.