Site work begins nearly one year after a ceremonial ground breaking for the four-story, 70,000-square foot building that was made possible by a $30 million gift from the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Family Foundation. The building will be at the northeast corner of Michigan Street and West Drive and will house the adult outpatient clinic, an optical shop, research space, classrooms, faculty offices, student meeting rooms and room for program expansion.
“We are anxious to watch the Glick Eye Institute become a reality,” said Louis B. Cantor, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and the Jay C. and Lucile L. Kahn Professor of Glaucoma, Research and Education, and director of the Glaucoma Service. “This space will give the department the opportunity to centralize and expand our research into the causes of and treatments for debilitating eye diseases, allowing us to embark on a path to be one of the nation’s top 10 eye institutes.”
Half of the building will be dedicated to science and biomedical research with the hope that new treatments can be developed for glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, neurologic eye disorders and vision disorders in children. As the baby boomer generation ages, an increasing number of adults will seek treatments for conditions for which there is currently no cure, including glaucoma, macular degeneration and retinopathy.
The new, spacious building will enable the department to bolster its clinical and research expertise with additional faculty and staff. The department is currently recruiting faculty and researchers with demonstrated success in attracting research funding. They, in turn, will recruit talented residents who will be the next generation of ophthalmologists.
RATIO Architects of Indianapolis designed the building to tell the story of how the eye works. Use of both limestone and brick will bridge the materials of the existing buildings of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus to the east and the medical campus to the north. The building also is expected to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Gold specification by using energy efficient systems and collecting storm water to irrigate the surrounding green space.
For more information about the IU Department of Ophthalmology, see www.iueye.iu.edu.