Spectacular Views Meet State-of-the-art Teaching Environments in New University Building

Aug 21, 2015

The University’s newest and tallest building, Edward R. Leahy Jr. Hall, will house the  departments of physical therapy, occupational therapy and exercise science of the Panuska College of Professional Studies. The exercise physiology laboratory is among the 25 laboratories in the 116,360-square-foot facility.

Spectacular views are ready to greet students, faculty and staff of the University’s departments of physical therapy, occupational therapy and exercise science when the new Edward R. Leahy Jr. Hall opens for the fall semester. The $47.5 million, 116,360-square-foot building, will open for classes on Monday, Aug. 24.

The eight-story facility offers spectacular views of the city from spacious laboratories, classrooms and common areas. The building will open for classes on Monday, Aug. 24.

Officially the tallest building on campus at 130 feet, the eight-story facility exposes panoramic views of the city and campus through extensive use of floor-to-ceiling windows in spacious laboratories, active-learning classrooms, hallways and common areas.

Group study rooms and faculty offices dot the upper floors between laboratories and classrooms of the new home for programs of the Panuska College of Professional Studies. The building is designed to encourage inter-professional modeling that involves collaboration between representatives of various healthcare professions to provide the best care for the patient. The facility is also designed to facilitate research, expand service-learning projects, and put the best simulation environments, applied-science laboratories, equipment and technology directly in the hands of students and faculty.

Three pediatric laboratories, focused on the physical, mental and emotional development of children, are among the 25 sizable laboratories in Leahy Hall that also includes a state-of-the-art human physiology laboratory. The facility includes three traditional and six active classrooms designed to be modified to accommodate the specific teaching needs of the bachelor’s-, master’s- and doctoral-level programs using the space.

The new building also includes a green roof therapy garden, a forum for lectures and events that can accommodate seating for 260 guests, and an assisted daily living simulated neighborhood with an apartment, grocery store and streetscape.

Leahy Hall connects to and creates a unified entrance to McGurrin Hall, which houses the other departments of the Panuska College of Professional Studies – nursing, education, human resources, counseling and health administration – in addition to the Leahy Community Health and Family Center.

Edward R. Leahy Jr. Hall. includes three traditional and six active classrooms that accommodate between 36 to 60 students, as well as 10 group study/conference rooms.

The building is designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for certification. The center was designed by a team of local architectural firms – Hemmler +Camayd and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, assisted by Higher Education Research Associates (HERA), a nationally recognized expert in designing rehabilitation program space. The Quandel Group Inc., Scranton, was the construction manager.

The University will dedicate Edward R. Leahy Jr. Hall at a 10 a.m. ceremony on Friday, Sept. 18. The dedication will be followed by tours of the building for members of the campus community and the general public. The dedication will also begin a yearlong series of events, entitled “Embracing the Call to Care,” which will give the community an opportunity to experience the facility firsthand.

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