Grand openings on tap for Friday

The University will celebrate two grand openings on Friday, Feb. 3.

At 11 a.m., SIU President Glenn Poshard, SIUC Chancellor Walter V. Wendler and U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, will be among the speakers at the grand opening of the first new building in the Southern Illinois Research Park. The park is on the south side of the campus, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 51 and Pleasant Hill Road.

The one-story, multi-tenant building is near the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, the anchor of the research park. Dunn-Richmond houses a variety of programs, including the Small Business Incubator, Southern Illinois Entrepreneurship Center, Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center, SouthernTECH and the Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development.

Tenants of the new facility will include graduates of the Small Business Incubator program and new and expanding knowledge-based companies. DXR Development Group and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service moved into the new building from the Dunn-Richmond center, and the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service will complete its move into the facility by March 1.

The building will accommodate six to nine enterprises with around 100 employees and an annual payroll of $5 million.

At 1:15 p.m. on Friday, President Poshard, Chancellor Wendler and other dignitaries will mark the grand opening of the Student Health Center.

Located adjacent to the Student Recreation Center on the east side of campus, the 57,000-square-foot health center offers students a continuum of care under one roof. Services include the medical clinic, pharmacy, wellness resources, mental health clinic, sports medicine and physical therapy. Community partners Southern Illinois Dermatology and the Marion Eye Center also provide services in the new health center.