Case Western Reserve University’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building will not turn its back on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as have other Case Quad buildings, including Yost Hall that was demolished for this new structure (HGA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
CWRU’s new $300M ISEB already underway
A second major groundbreaking ceremony is happening later this month in Cleveland, following that of the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center. But this one could be a little confusing to those familiar with Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) $300 million Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB). They may wonder if this project hasn’t already been underway for some time — because it has.
Despite that, CWRU will be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 23 for the new building, located on the west side of the Case Quad at approximately 2049 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. That’s according to plans submitted to the city by AAble Rents of Euclid and confirmed by a university spokesperson.
The ceremony itself will be held in three tents set up on the center of the Case Quad, a park-like greenspace which has an address of 10900 Euclid Ave. — the address of the neighboring CWRU administration building. The groundbreaking ceremony will have bars and buffets to offer drinks and food for attendees to enjoy seated at tables, rain or shine.
The decision to hold the groundbreaking ceremony later this month follows the university reaching and surpassing a $100 million milestone in fundraising in supporting the new ISEB. That milestone was reached “Ahead of schedule, and well ahead of a ceremonial groundbreaking,” CWRU staff noted in “The Daily” posted Sept. 20.
Construction costs for the project are estimated at $200 million. About $150 million of the project’s costs are covered through century bonds, issued in 2023. That was followed by the demolition of the 1951-built Yost Hall earlier this year. The article in The Daily said philanthropy is funding the other half of the $300 million tab for the five-story, 189,000-square-foot research building.
The Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building construction camera is perched atop Crawford Hall, overlooking Tomlinson Hall at the bottom. MLK Boulevard is to the right. This view was captured on Oct. 3, 2024 (CWRU).
Soft costs including design, equipment, relocations and the $32,000 groundbreaking ceremony are projected to total about $100 million. The building will include wet labs, dry labs including shared core lab and technology platforms, according to CWRU. Construction work is due to be completed in Fall 2026. NEOtrans broke the story about ISEB two years ago.
“The overwhelming support we’ve received for this project is a testament to the generosity of our friends and alumni, and to the anticipated impact the ISEB will have on advancing our research enterprise,” said CWRU President Eric Kaler in a written statement. “The ISEB promises to further catalyze our research, interdisciplinary collaborations and discoveries that change lives.”
A web-based construction camera overlooking the ISEB site was positioned atop nearby Crawford Hall. The camera looks eastwardly, over historic Tomlinson Hall, and shows significant progress on the foundations including a retaining wall holding up the west side of the Case Quad’s greenspace by the silver-columned Michelson-Morley Fountain.
Building ISEB is Discovery Builders, a joint venture led by Turner Construction of New York City and has a local office. Working with them are Cleveland-area contractors Next Generation Construction and The AKA Team, as well as Berea-based construction staffing firm Adrian Maldonado & Associates, according to ConstructionDive. The architect is HGA of Minnesota.
As seen from the Case Quad, with the Michelson-Morley Fountain at left, ISEB will be only three and four stories tall. But from the other side, down the slope toward Doan Brook, the new building will be five stories tall and offer a greater presence than most other university buildings facing MLK Boulevard (HGA).
ISEB is a key part of CWRU’s efforts to boost externally funded research from $400 million per year to $600 million per year over the past decade. A driver of the research center and its expanded budget is the Cleveland Innovation District — an initiative of JobsOhio and multiple local partners including CWRU.
The university’s Next Generation Health Care initiative, a beneficiary of innovation district funding, will build on CWRU’s biomedical technologies and drug development to advance diagnosis and treatment for cancer, cardiac, neurological and infectious diseases.
Two years ago, the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Institute (CESMII), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, selected the Institute for Smart, Secure and Connected Systems (ISSACS) at Case Western Reserve University to lead a Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center (SMIC) in Cleveland. The effort is accelerating the adoption of smart manufacturing by integrating advanced sensors and data platforms to radically improve manufacturing.
The Case Quad was chosen as the site for the new research center because it has historically been the location for engineering, sciences and technology. This section of the campus started as Case Institute of Technology before the 1967 merger with Western Reserve University that was founded 198 years ago. ISEB will open in the year of the university’s 200th anniversary.
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