On August 26, 2005, the University of South Carolina Upstate began a new chapter in its remarkable history when it broke ground on a $24 million Health Education Complex. This is the first major academic building to be built in the northern segment of the campus. Situated on top of a hill, the Health Education Complex will have panoramic views of the beautiful Susan Jacobs Arboretum and of the main campus.

Included in the 150,000 square foot facility are the Mary Black School of Nursing, School of Education, Wellness/Fitness Center, Enrollment Services and Bookstore. The central location of these services will draw student activity toward the northern segment of campus where rows of Nuttall Oak trees are quickly defining a new Quad.

For some time everyone has seen steel slowly rising out of the ground at the site of the Health Education Complex, witnessed the dust as trucks and people scurry around the site and watched progress from the webcam and from driving by on North Campus Boulevard. Work has progressed from the Education and Nursing Wing to the Wellness and Mechanical Services wing, with the Enrollment Management and Bookstore wing construction mostly limited so far to work buried in the ground.

On September 11, USC Upstate Facilities Management Department Project Manager Fred Scott photographed many locations inside the building. These photographs are located in the new Photo Gallery section of the Health Education Complex Web site. As the project moves forward, additional photos will be added so that everyone can watch progress from inside the building.

Construction on the University’s $24 million Health Education Complex recently reached a celebratory point when the structure was “topped out.” This is the stage of construction where the final piece of steel is hoisted into place when a building, while not completed, has reached its maximum height. Contractors estimate that the structure is 40 percent done and should be completed by June 1, 2008. By far the largest building on campus, the Health Education Complex will require 1,000 tons of steel, 7,500 tons of concrete and 160 tons of gravel on the roof, and 10 miles of wire.

The Complex was designed and is being constructed in hopes of being LEED certified, the nationally-accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in environmental and energy conservation. Contractors are using a white stone roof on the Health Education Complex that is high in reflectivity. So, instead of absorbing the sun’s harsh rays, it will reflect those rays, thus lowering energy costs. Fins will be featured along the top of the windows, along with vertical sun screens, which will provide shade from the heat of the day but will allow adequate light in the rooms to reduce the number of light fixtures needed throughout the facility.

Once finished the 145,000 square-foot facility will house the Mary Black School of Nursing, School of Education, Wellness/Fitness Center, Enrollment Services and Bookstore. Students are extremely excited about the three-story Wellness/Fitness Center, which will feature an eight-lane indoor swimming pool, steam rooms, two basketball courts, two racquetball courts, a three-lane track, and a variety of spaces spread through-out for exercise equipment, aerobics, etc. “USC Upstate doesn’t have facilities like this now to offer our students,” said Leon Wiles, vice chancellor for student and diversity affairs. “The Wellness/Fitness Center will certainly provide exceptional recreational opportunities for our current students and will aid in the recruitment of prospective students.”

Once completed, the Health Education Complex will benefit USC Upstate and the Upstate in other far-reaching ways. With increased academic space, the School of Education can provide more teachers for Spartanburg County and beyond and the Mary Black School of Nursing will be able to double its output of nurses and to possibly add graduate programming in nursing. “With 80 percent of USC Upstate graduates choosing to remain in the Upstate to build their lives and careers, the region will directly and indirectly benefit from the influx of additional teaching and nursing professionals,” said USC Upstate Chancellor John Stockwell. See the Topping Out photo gallery.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
• Architectural Renderings
• Chancellor's Letter
• Future Site of HEC
• Campaign Pledge Card
• Directions to Campus
• Live Webcam (NEW!)
• Photo Galleries

Floor plans:
• Lower level
• Main level
• Upper level

The furniture and relocatable walls indicated on the above plans are for representative purposes only.   

With 85 percent of USC Upstate graduates choosing to remain in the Upstate to build their lives and careers, the region will directly and indirectly benefit from the influx of additional teaching and nursing professionals.