Since the merger with MedCentral last year, plans have been in development to construct a state of the art medical education facility on the MedCentral campus.

Starting last August, Facilities Management and Planning and the Core Design Committee have been meeting with architects and other relevant groups to plan the new nursing building.

The building will be a two-story 48,000 square feet structure with a partial basement and will be constructed on the 15-acre Mansfield campus.

Rick Ewing, vice president of facilities management and planning, said that the building will contain classrooms, and offices for staff as well as administrative offices on the first floor. On the second floor, there will be classrooms and high-tech nursing instruction labs.

There will be a total of nine classrooms and seven simulation labs. The building will also have a bookstore, lounges and a small dining area.

“We are currently determining details and specifications that we can then send out to contractors,” Ewing said.

Facilities Management and Planning will have to oversee the construction of the building with many groups including Information Technology, nursing faculty, bookstore administrators, Auxiliary Services and Student Affairs.

Ewing reported that the project will cost around $15.5 million. The cost includes many different fees from architects, consultants, technological equipment and land purchases, among other costs.

“We will start site work in April,” Ewing said. “Full construction begins in July and we expect the building to be finished and ready for classes by fall of 2012. It’s critical that we get started in April if weather allows. As with any project, budget is always tight but we are pretty confident in the cost and the schedule.”

The Board of Trustees approved the new nursing facility in February. IT has also been working hard to determine the technology needs.

“The technology is similar to the technology on our campus,” Curtis White, vice president of IT, said. “The difference will be in the simulation labs with nursing specific technology.”

White said that the nursing labs will have high-tech simulation mannequins and video recording technology to assist in educating nursing students.

“We are going through very carefully to assess the technology needs of the new facility,” White said. “We’re also looking at vendors for deals on technology.”