Thursday and Friday events to showcase Bennett Hall, SAHP

Kyle Meyer, Ph.D., associate dean for the School of Allied Health Professions, in the updated Bennett Hall. The third-oldest building on campus, Bennett Hall is the SAHP’s new home. A formal dedication for the building will be held today at 4:30 p.m. and a campus open house will be held Friday from 1 to 3 p.m.

The new physical therapy training laboratory is one of the many impressive features in the newly-renovated Bennett Hall.

One of the newly renovated board rooms in Bennett Hall.

A reading room is one of the new features in the newly renovated Bennett Hall.

The spotlight will shine on the “new” Bennett Hall during separate events held today and Friday in the newly renovated building.

A formal dedication ceremony this evening and a Friday open house, which the campus community is invited to, will showcase the new look of the building that is now the home of the UNMC School of Allied Health Professions.

After years of being scattered across campus, the SAHP — composed of 53 faculty and 16 staff — are now under one roof in Bennett Hall, which is the third-oldest building on campus, although it hardly looks it.

“We could not be more pleased with the renovation,” said Kyle Meyer, Ph.D., associate dean of the SAHP. “The consolidation of our faculty and administrative functions has generated great enthusiasm among our faculty, staff and students. I am confident it will lead to greater collaboration and innovation among our faculty in both research and teaching.”

Today’s formal dedication ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. with remarks at 5 p.m. in Bennett Hall, Room 4016. Friday’s open house will run from 1 to 3 p.m. Faculty, staff and students are invited to take a self-guided tour of the newly renovated building. Refreshments and information about the School of Allied Health Professions’ educational programs will be available in Rooms 3003, 4012 and 5003.

The renovations have allowed each of the SAHP’s 10 divisions, as well as its distance education department, to be permanently housed in the building on the northwest corner of 42nd and Emile streets.

The $8.9 million renovation was funded through LB605, the 2006 legislative bill that provided state funds to upgrade buildings on all four campuses of the University of Nebraska system.

Originally constructed in 1919, Bennett Hall, or the South Laboratory Building as it was originally known, has seven levels and contains 64,494 gross square feet of space.

This past year’s renovation of about 46,000 square feet of interior space provides an additional 25,000 net square feet of updated space. The SAHP is housed on Levels 3 through 6 with the administrative offices on the fifth floor.

Also occupying the building will be the department of anesthesiology administrative and faculty offices, which will remain on Level 2, and the Counseling and Student Development Center, which will move from the Student Life Center to Level 6.

Bennett Hall fast facts Did you know Bennett Hall: Was originally named the South Laboratory Building; Was built in 1919; Has seven levels and 64,494 gross square feet of space; Had an addition added to the its west side in the late 1930s an addition was added to the west; Underwent its last major renovation in 1962; Was renovated this time using $8.9 million in funds from LB605, the 2006 legislative bill that provided state funds to upgrade buildings on all four campuses of the University of Nebraska system?

“The architectural and construction teams of Alley Poyner Macchietto and Boyd Jones, and our UNMC Facilities Management and Planning department, exceeded our expectations in this renovation,” Dr. Meyer said. “They have created a welcoming environment for faculty and staff, current and prospective students and alumni, all in keeping with the period of the original building architecture.”

Natural light that spills into the building through oversized windows and into the corridors with dark crown moldings and granite floors already has drawn compliments from visitors. The building’s early history shines through thanks to high ceilings, wall sconces, opaque glass on office doors, a restored stairway and Earth tones.

The consolidation physically connects the SAHP with the College of Medicine, which is housed directly east of Bennett Hall in the new Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education.

“Sixty percent of the health care workforce is made up of allied heath care workers,” Dr. Meyer said. “One of the major advantages of an education at UNMC is the opportunity for students from different health care professions to interact with one another. The Bennett Hall renovation and the consolidation of the SAHP will greatly facilitate this opportunity.”