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The University of Iowa will raze the Pride Alliance Center and the South Quadrangle buildings to make way for a new academic building on the west side of campus. 

The UI’s request was approved by the state Board of Regents Thursday. The university will save up to $3.85 million in deferred maintenance costs by razing the buildings. 

According to the request, the razing will clear space for a new six-story building on the location, which is part of the university’s 10-year master plan. The razing of the Pride Alliance Center is expected to cost $100,000, and the South Quadrangle building’s destruction is estimated to cost $900,000.

Pride Alliance Center 

The request states that the Pride Alliance Center building, located at 125 Grand Ave. Court, was built in 1922 and is past its lifespan in use. The building also does not have historical significance. The center was originally named the LGBTQ Resource Center until 2019 when the name was changed to increase inclusivity. 

Additionally, it states that the Pride Alliance Center is expected to relocate to a different university building in May. 

The center was temporarily closed for maintenance in January, according to the center’s Instagram. 

Upon removal of the Pride Alliance Center, the space will be used as a new parking area for both the future academic building and the Gerdin Athletic Learning Center. 

UI Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations Rod Lehnertz said at the Wednesday regents meeting that the center will be moving to a new house in the future.

“We happened to have a house that was not under lease, usually used for faculty coming in and looking for a home but not having one yet or a graduate teaching level university staff and faculty, it was not leased, it’s on Melrose [Avenue] and we were able to, in working with the Pride Alliance leadership and membership, lift and put them there while we would take this house down,” Lehnertz said.

South Quadrangle Building

The request also states the South Quadrangle Building, 310 S. Grand Ave., is also past its lifespan. The building was built in 1942, so it does not follow the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and is also not historically significant.  

The UI’s ROTC program and part of the Health and Human Physiology department currently operate in the building. The ROTC and Health and Human Physiology department will relocate to the old Pharmacy Building in May, and the department will move into the new building when it is completed. 

Lehnertz said there are several options for ROTC to go following the building’s completion.

“ROTC has the needs for an office of student interaction but also access to equipment and fitness and other things that they do which is why centering it near the Fieldhouse is important for them,” Lehnertz said.

Currently, the South Quadrangle is in the same space as a utility connection that is needed in the construction of the new building. Without the razing of the South Quadrangle, the utility connection would have to be routed around the building and would cost the UI more than $2 million.