The initial opening date of the new Center for Health Sciences on St. John’s University’s Queens campus remains the same. In an interview with The Torch, St. John’s President Rev. Brian Shanley shares his excitement for the new building after taking a tour as the construction continues.

“We’re hoping to get a certificate of occupancy in June [2024],” Shanley said, hoping to prepare the building during Summer 2024 so that it is ready for operations to begin the following Fall semester.

The construction of the Center for Health Sciences, set to open in Fall 2024, was first announced in 2021 and will replace what used to be St. Vincent’s Hall. According to the March 2021 press release, the building is set to cost $78 million. The New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grant (HECap) funded the University with $5 million to aid the construction of the new building.

As construction continues and the opening date nears, Shanley describes the space to also be a good “gathering space” for students, with a porch placed facing the Residence Village. “It’s going to look beautiful.”

The 70,000 square foot space is set to host classrooms and laboratories. The building is tailored to host nursing students and physician assistant students. To accompany the programs, the new center will be equipped with simulation labs.

“I think it’s going to change people’s experience on campus,” Shanley said.

Nursing was first introduced as a program at St. John’s in 2022, with the first cohort of students joining this semester. 

Many buildings on campus date back decades. Shanley reflected on the fact that the building will highlight the developments Queens campus has seen. “It’s also going to be a reminder when you walk across to St. Albert’s, that looks like 1958, and then you’re going to be in 2024.”

With the infrastructural addition to the campus, the question as to whether Queens campus will see an increased number of students arises. As the University’s Staten Island campus closes in Spring 2024, Queens is expected to see a higher volume of students already. But Shanley reflects on how this is something St. John’s has the capacity for. 

“We would love to have more students on campus,” he told The Torch. “We have the capacity to have more students here. And hopefully this will help us attract more students. And we’ve done some major tweaks to how we recruit students.”

Not only does Shanley believe the campus has the capacity for students, but also hopes to see an increased number of students on campus as the University depends on tuition revenue. 

“It’s the one thing that I probably worried about the most, because the major source of our income is tuition revenue. So, the more students the better. We’ve got room for it.”