Shopping for a new location, offices find home in downtown mall

The University of Iowa Department of Public Safety is one of several new tenants who have new office space in University Capitol Centre, housed within the Old Capitol Town Center shopping mall. Public Safety's new home features this dispatch center, along with a spacious training room, a high-tech crime lab, a garage to shield patrol cars from harsh winter weather, and plenty of storage space. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

Scott King likes to tell people that his office is in the shoe department.

King, the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS), is one of about 650 University of Iowa employees who have relocated in the past year and a half to University Capitol Centre (UCC), a centrally located space shared with the Old Capitol Town Center mall.

 “It’s great to see the reactions when people come in,” King says. “They can’t believe our office is the same space where Younkers used to be.”

Since 2005, the University has bought more than 170,000 square feet of space in the downtown Iowa City mall building, converting former department stores like JCPenney and Younkers into University offices.

“It’s high-quality space in the heart of campus,” says Diane Machatka, associate director for space planning and utilization in Facilities Management.  “Many of these departments saw this as attractive space that served their needs.”

For OISS, relocating from an out-of-the-way west-side location to the mall’s main floor provided an opportunity to better reach students and faculty. International Programs, of which OISS is affiliated, became the first University department to occupy the mall building in March 2006.

“This location has absolutely changed our relationship with students,” King says. “Rather than receiving phone calls and e-mails, we see students in person now. We moved from the least accessible place on campus to the most accessible.”

And while moving downtown made parking less convenient, the benefits to staff—including more lunch options—outweigh the negatives, King says.

The mall building, which still retains retail space on the main floor, also houses the Iowa Intensive English Program and English as a Second Language on the main floor; Information Technology Services, IOWA Centers for Enterprise, and several College of Public Health and University Hospitals units on the second floor; and the Department of Public Safety, Key Shop, and Lost and Found in the basement.

Transforming wide-open retail space to University offices proved a design challenge, says Gary Nagle, an architect in Facilities Management and the UCC project manager.

“Everything had to be redesigned to make it work for people who have to be in an office atmosphere eight hours a day,” he says.

That included adding windows to the building’s second floor to bring in more natural light, creating open floor plans to maximize space and light, and painting many of the walls a warm ivory. Designers also created space on the second floor for an executive boardroom, conference and training rooms, restrooms, and a shared break room.

Moving to a newly renovated space also meant many offices could customize the space to their needs. That was a major advantage for the Department of Public Safety, which moved to UCC in March from temporary trailers on Madison Street.

In the old space, officers had little room for their equipment in cramped lockers. Evidence was stored in milk crates, and lieutenants shared offices.

Public Safety’s new 19,000-square-foot facility features sound-proof walls and bullet-proof doors, a spacious training room, four audio- and video-monitored interview rooms, a high-tech crime lab, a garage to shield patrol cars from harsh winter weather, and plenty of storage space.

“It’s such a vast improvement over what we had,” says Chuck Green, Department of Public Safety director. “We’re very grateful to have this space.”

Planning for the move to the new building began more than two years in advance. Dave Visin, associate director of UI Public Safety, says the department considered its space and technology needs well into the future, researched amenities in other law enforcement agencies, and compiled a wish list.

The result is a modern facility with a number of special features, such as a drunk driver processing room complete with a toilet that can only be controlled from the outside of the bathroom—to prevent suspects from flushing evidence down the toilet. And lockers in roomy quarters are designed especially for police officers and their equipment.

Green says moving was challenging because Public Safety had to remain operational during the move. He says everything went smoothly thanks to months of careful planning.

Six months after moving, everyone in the department is settled into the new space—with one exception: Aro, the police dog.

“He’s not allowed here,” Visin says. “The last thing we want is Aro making a mess on the new carpet.”

by Madelaine Jerousek-Smith