D’Youville U, others cash in on state matching grants for capital projects

Several Western New York institutions have been approved to receive large grants in this year’s round of New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grants for capital projects on college and university campuses.

D’Youville University was awarded the biggest HECap grant in WNY – $5 million to help it build a 100,000-square-foot academic center adjacent to its still-new Health Professions Hub, which opened in 2021.

The grants require recipient schools to match the amount awarded three to one, meaning D’Youville needs to raise $15 million toward the project to get the grant.

D’Youville President Lorrie Clemo announced the grant as “the first large gift” to D’Youville University’s Facing the Future capital campaign, which launched on Sept. 22 to raise money for the new building.

The facility will complement the Health Professions Hub and will be designed by the same architectural firm, Cannon Design, behind the Hub, which incorporates education and experiential learning spaces for students in D’Youville’s School of Health Professions, as well as a clinical and community health center serving its West Side neighborhood.

The academic center will focus on delivering education in a setting that accommodates modern techniques while incorporating personal wellness for students, Clemo said in a statement. It will include classrooms, labs, faculty offices and an active-learning lecture hall, as well as meditation spaces, rooftop gardens and colonnades featuring sustainable landscape design.

D’Youville’s health sciences programs range from chiropractic, occupational and physical therapy and exercise studies to physician assistant, speech language pathologist and nutrition, all in-demand fields that are expected to grow in the coming years.

Besides helping schools improve and expand their services to students and the community, the…