JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — Binghamton University will use $21 million in state funding to relocate and expand the Decker School of Nursing to a building on Corliss Avenue.
The project will result in the creation 150 new jobs, the office Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release issued Tuesday.
It represents the second phase of construction on Binghamton University’s $105 million Health Sciences and Technology Innovation Park in Johnson City.
The project also includes the ongoing construction of the new $60 million School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Cuomo announced the second phase of construction during an appearance Tuesday in Johnson City.
Cuomo made the school’s Health Science and Technology Innovation Park a “priority” in 2014 with a “commitment” of $10 million in capital resources to support initial planning and development costs of the new School of Pharmacy, his office said.
The $21 million in state funding is through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative (URI), according to the release.
The URI was Cuomo’s $1.5 billion economic-development contest held in 2015.
The funding will support building renovations and upgrades. The expanded facility will allow the school to offer new programs in health sciences and public health.
It will also provide additional space for clinical, educational and community partners. Renovation of the 93,000 square-foot facility will begin immediately and is expected to be completed in August of 2020.
Following the announcement of the relocated Decker School of Nursing, Cuomo joined local leaders and elected officials to sign a beam that workers will raise during construction of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, located adjacent to the School of Nursing on Corliss Avenue.
Together, the new School of Pharmacy and expanded School of Nursing will allow the university to offer new, “advanced” disciplines within the bio-science field and “bolster Binghamton University’s reputation as a leading institution of higher learning and medical research,” Cuomo’s office said.
Once complete, Binghamton University will enroll more than 430 undergraduate and nearly 170 graduate students at the Decker School of Nursing. In addition, the project will result in the creation of 150 new jobs and the retention of 325 existing jobs, Cuomo’s office said.
Construction of the pharmacy school facility has already generated hundreds of jobs, and once complete, the school is projected to create more than 100 new private-sector jobs per year while generating an annual economic impact of about $100 million in the Southern Tier region.
The announcement is part of “Southern Tier Soaring,” the region’s “comprehensive blueprint to generate robust” economic growth and community development.
The Southern Tier regional economic-development council won one of the three $500 million prizes through the URI, which Cuomo announced in December 2015.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com