The University of Iowa’s Belin Blank Center is undergoing renovations on its fifth and sixth floors to include the Scanlan Center for School Mental Health clinic.
The renovations, estimated to cost just over $1.5 million, are led by City Construction and are expected to begin in February 2024 and be completed by August. The center itself was built in 2003 and is also home to the university’s honors program.
The Scanlan Center provides mental health services, including short-term individual counseling, group counseling, and post-crisis services, to pre-K through 12th grade students, educators, and staff.
Brian Douglas, Belin-Blank’s associate director of finance and operations, said the fifth floor currently houses the center’s assessment and counseling clinic, as well as university classroom space.
The UI College of Education’s Scanlan Center for School Mental Health Clinics is currently located at 400 Plaza Center One in the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall. Douglas said he plans to renovate the fifth floor to house the Scanlan Clinic and the center’s assessment and counseling clinic.
“We would like to convert it from a multi-purpose space to an all-practice space to accommodate the needs of both clinics,” Douglas said.
The center’s assessment and counseling clinic will be relocated to the third floor and remain there until construction is complete, Douglas said.
Professor Douglas said honors students will no longer have access to the third-floor library and some study rooms this semester due to a project that will see the center’s assessment and counseling clinic moved to the same floor.
Belinblank Center Director Megan Foley Nippon said students will have full access to the space once renovations are complete.
Foley-Nikpon said there will be no general loss of classroom space as a result of the renovations, and the impact on students and faculty will be low.
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“It will be a dedicated space on campus for Scanlan faculty to provide clinical services to youth and educators across Iowa,” Foley-Nikpon said.
Douglas said the renovation of the fifth floor will help enhance the services provided by both clinics.
The renovated fifth floor will include new testing and assessment rooms, student and family counseling rooms, a telehealth room, and new offices for clinicians.
“This renovation will provide both clinics with a new, dedicated, private space for their clients,” Douglas said.
The Belin Blank Center will continue to operate as usual during construction.
