Funding has been announced for the brand-new Drug Discovery & Cancer Research Pavilion as an expansion of the UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy within the Illinois Medical District (IMD). Sitting at roughly 1725 West Polk Street, the new center joins other cancer care centers going up at the University of Chicago and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Site context map of new UIC pavilion via Google Maps
The center has now been in the works for over five years, with the college posting the first walkthrough of the building back in 2021. The five-story structure will replace a large surface parking lot behind the pharmacy school, as well as a one-story structure along Polk that is bound by the CTA Pink Line Polk station to the east. The new and existing buildings will be connected via a two-story skybridge over a new plaza.
Rendering of new pavilion via UIC
While formal programming has not been revealed, we can assume it will contain multiple wet and dry lab spaces, classrooms, conference/multi-use rooms, and various other support facilities, as it will be utilized by the College of Pharmacy, UI Cancer Center, and the Department of Chemistry. The goal is to improve oncology drugs through R&D with a focus on equity.
Rendering of new pavilion via UIC
Per the university, cancer disproportionately impacts underserved populations, with a Black woman in Englewood being 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than a white woman in Streeterville. This is partially due to minorities representing only around 10 percent of the population in clinical trials, with the center hoping to hit closer to 40 percent.
Rendering of new pavilion via UIC
The glassy center will partially cantilever above the aforementioned brand-new plaza and public green space with a sunken lawn. Additionally, the stepping roofs of the existing pharmacy building will be redeveloped into large outdoor terraces, per the renderings. With a price tag of $232 million, funding will come from UIC’s operating budget, gifts, and state appropriations.
At the moment, a construction timeline is unknown.
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This is interesting! All I can say as someone who lives not far from here is that the IMD is that though the IMD board did do some very promising upzoning and FAR changes in favor of density, there are still many open lots and so many surface parking lots and parking garages. I hope they build more housing as well.
Let’s get rid of more parking lots next to CTA station!
So happy to see this announcement. I’ve hope to see this critically important research and development project advance. It’s important for all Chicago to combatting life expectancy rates. Local families and community economies rest upon a host of certainty. Longer lifespans matters! Thank you UIC for increasing your budget toward this project and we would certainly support the call State Appropriation. It’s possible, the NITA Board and it’s Committee on Real Estate can add value to the land assembly quest for the other nearby parking lots
This is another really solid addition for UIC. It would be nice if they built the long-planned performing arts center on the giant lot at Harrison and Halsted.