ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is making plans to expand.
The project could deliver a new building for the medical school and free up additional space for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
The plans aren’t set in stone, but a proposal detailed in a capital budget request on the Virginia Tech website lays out a $183.7 million project.The new 100,000-square-foot building would be located on a vacant lot across Jefferson Street, providing enough space to double enrollment from about 200 to 400 students. The space that’s currently devoted to the medical school would be renovated, providing an additional 50,000 square feet for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.“And it really speaks to the impact and the success that the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute have had at Virginia Tech and within the community of Roanoke,” said Virginia Tech spokesperson Mark Owczarski.Owczarski said the dimensions of the project, including how much it will cost, are still coming into focus.“We can get to a point where we can say, looking at all of the data and all of the potential scenarios, what would be best for Roanoke, what would be best for southwest Virginia and what would be best for Virginia Tech. We’re approaching that,”Owczarski said. “We hope we get there soon, so that we can receive the authority and the permission to start putting shovels in the ground, and start recruiting future students for years to come to benefit our community.”The project is still in the planning stages, but Owczarski said it’s a high priority, and could bring a budget request to the General Assembly in the next few years.
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