A street in Rock Island will be closed Wednesday to allow construction to begin on a new building at Augustana College. A section of 35th Street, north of 7th Avenue, probably won't re-open until the spring or summer of next year when completion is expected of the Peter J. Lindberg M.D. Center for Health and Human Performance.
Executive Vice President Kent Barnds says it will house two programs.
"A new major in kinesiology and also our public health program which is expanding significantly, and sort of timely if you think about the pandemic. So both of these inter-disciplinary programs combine traditional disciplines but in a mainfestation that is really consistent with the liberal arts."
It will also include an aquatic center for the swimming and diving programs, and for the new water polo teams that will start competition next year.
The Lindberg Center will cost 18 million dollars, with help from a lead gift of nine million from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation. Site work has already started - between 35th Street and Carlsson Evald Hall.
