Kaitlyn Hughes | Editor-in-Chief

Duquesne University held an official groundbreaking ceremony Friday for its new health sciences building along Forbes Avenue. 

The about 82,000-square-foot, five-story building will become home to the John G. Rangos, Sr. School of Health Sciences in fall 2028. It is a $68 million project. 

“[The new building] represents an important investment in the future of healthcare education and an exciting step forward in Duquesne’s mission to serve both our students and our community,” Duquesne University President David Dausey said at the groundbreaking ceremony Friday.

The space will be located across from McGinley Hall and the Nasuti College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“We are developing what we call a healthcare corridor here along this road,” Dausey said. “We are really working hard to be nationally known as a place where people study integrated health.”

State Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said the new health sciences building paired with the school of medicine will help healthcare services be delivered throughout the region. 

“I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the role that it’s playing in the continuation of the growth of Pittsburgh,” he said.

Costa along with State Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, and State Rep. Aerion Abney, D-Manchester, worked to secure state funding for the facility. The university received $1 million, which was part of Governor Josh Shapiro’s effort to invest $134 million into 100 community and economic development projects across Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

Along with state legislators, about 200 people attended Friday’s ceremony including health science students, members of Duquesne’s Board of Directors and Bishop Mark Eckman, who blessed the ground where the new building will stand. 

Construction of the facility comes at a time when the health sciences program outgrew the current space located along Locust Street because of the current need for healthcare practitioners, Dausey said. 

The building will be 20% larger than the current space of the Rangos School and will include six classrooms, nine labs, a simulation facility with exam rooms for patient-training activities and two simulated hospital bays.

Once the university receives accreditation approval, Dausey said they plan to hire more faculty and accept more students in their health science-related programs. 

Plans for the new health sciences building received unanimous approval from the Pittsburgh Planning Commission in January. 

Deputy Director of Economic Development for the City of Pittsburgh Mary McKinney Flaherty said the new structure brings Duquesne’s mission to life, which in turn, helps the city. 

“Education here at Duquesne is about more than what happens in a classroom; it’s about what you do with what you learn and how you serve,” she said. “Today’s milestone brings that mission forward.”

The site was formerly a parking lot used by employees and visitors. To mitigate any issues caused by the reduction in parking spaces, people will be able to valet their car in the Locust Garage, Dausey said.

The university announced in August that they are selling property along Fifth Avenue to the Pittsburgh Parking Authority with the intention of building a new parking garage that Duquesne permit holders can use when it is expected to open in fall 2028.

The space of the current health sciences building was once home to the university’s power plant. The site was repurposed in 1923 as a gymnasium and then replaced by the Rangos School in 1990.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu