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{M3CEDAR FALLS -- The building looks like it was always meant to be there.

Nestled between the Wellness/Recreation Center and the UNI-Dome sits the new $7 million Human Performance Center, a multipurpose facility for academics and health and leisure services programming. A large portion of the building is dedicated to sports medicine, including physical therapy and orthopedic care. The offices are open to University of Northern Iowa athletes, students and staff and the community.

New tenants began moving into their offices last week, but the building but won't be fully operational until sometime in January when students return to campus and health-care professionals move into their new digs.

Even though the building is half-empty, many are hailing the structure as an important piece of a larger athletic complex that puts UNI head and shoulders above peer institutions and even larger universities.

"If you walk from the north end of the Wellness/Recreation Center to the south end of the McLeod Center, there is no other like it in the United States, at least not all tied together like this and under one roof," said Chris Edginton, director of the UNI school of health, physical education and leisure services.

But the completion of the building is about much more than adding classroom and office space for the fast-growing athletic training program. More important are the private and public collaborations that will extend into the community, Edginton said.

Ground floor

The first floor of the 33,000-square-foot building will serve as the home to the school's athletic training program and office space for Dr. Jeffrey Clark, UNI's orthopedic team physician and an orthopedic surgeon, and Northeast Iowa Physical Therapy.

Many of these programs were already in partnerships to make each stronger. But their new locations will give each entity the opportunity to bolster collaborative efforts, a move that will benefit everyone involved, said Biff Williams, an associate professor of athletic training and associate dean of the College of Education.

"This really has a student focus. It's a clinical outreach and professional practice integrated into the rigor of our program," he said.

But those in the medical community say they, and their patients, will benefit, too. The facility brings with it state-of-the-art technology open to all. Gil Irey, CEO of Cedar Valley Medical Specialists, said while much of the focus is on sports medicine, the complex isn't just for athletes.

Cedar Valley Medical Specialists will oversee the medical portions of the building occupied by Clark, Northeast Iowa Physical Therapy and Advanced Diagnostic Imaging. Allen Health Systems partnered with Cedar Valley Medical Specialists to open the new physical therapy location.

Rick Seidler, Allen Hospital CEO, said this partnership opportunity was just one more way his hospital could provide patients with service "close to home."

"One of our core strategies is relationships," Seidler said. "We have outstanding relationships with the community, and this will go toward helping that in many ways.

"We have athletic trainers on the field in a multi-county area. This kind of venture carries our presence to a much larger audience," Seidler added. "It's all part of building that trust. We work in life and death situations, and we need to build that trust before someone needs us."

Advanced Diagnostic Imaging staff members will operate a magnetic resonance imaging machine in Clark's office. While those professionals will focus much of their attention on sports medicine, they will also continue to serve other patients.

Clark said patients will move through the rehabilitation process much more quickly because they won't have to wait for MRIs.

"Before they had to go to a different location. Now they should be able to go straight to the MRI and be assessed. Then we will get that information right on hand," Clark said. "Traditionally people might have to wait a week or two weeks to get that same MRI. To have all of this on campus is really invaluable."

A hydrotherapy area, jointly operated by the university, Allen Hospital and Cedar Valley Medical Specialists, includes a state-of-the-art underwater treadmill unlike any in the state, said Terry Noonan, director of athletic training services.

The pool isn't just for the injured. Noonan hopes to rent the facility to athletes like distance runners who can use it as another training tool in their arsenal.

Stressing academics

Students in the athletic training program will see a change in their surroundings when classes begin next month. Instead of sharing classroom space with university athletic trainers and injured athletes the students will have 14 treatment tables where they can learn and practice techniques without interruption.

"Our program is one of the biggest in the nation. We have between 75 and 85 students. When I came here in 1998, we had eight, who were minoring in athletic training," Williams said.

"We hope to become the primary place in the United States where students are trained," Edginton added.

Students will be able to observe Clark and the physical therapists in action. Though clinical work is already part of the curriculum, the on-campus location will make it more convenient for students and will also allow them to spend more time on this piece of their education, Williams said.

The school is also trying to grow its research component through the partnerships. Research is currently conducted in a small room adjacent to the larger training room, unofficially designated as an overflow space for the trainers. A larger area can now be dedicated to clinical trials, said Brian Ragan, an assistant professor.

Ragan and Todd Evans, another associate professor in the school of health, physical education and leisure services, said the proximity to Clark's office could also pay dividends for their research.

Evans said the two are working on a way to accurately measure health, but need injured participants who are willing to be monitored as they recover.

Student athletes will also see changes in their recovery process as they are taped and treated in a new space.

"We've doubled the treatment area and equipment space," said Don Bishop, head athletic trainer. "This is better for everyone because we can now work better around the athlete's schedule."

Just upstairs

Upstairs office space, called the Center for Healthy Youth Development, is occupied by the Global Health Corps, National Program for Playground Safety, Camp Adventure and Leisure, Youth and Human Services.

For the first time the school has a dedicated space for programs supported by grant dollars and external contracts, or soft money, Edginton said. In all, the programs have brought in more than $70 million in grants and contracts, with Camp Adventure accounting for about $55 million. Leaders with each of the programs are also responsible for the publication of hundreds of articles and a few books.

"These programs are good examples to be used across the campus," Edginton said.

Many of the programs were once crammed into larger rooms in the Wellness/Recreation Center. And while they seemed to be appropriately sized when the Wellness/Recreation Center was constructed more than a decade ago, they quickly outgrew their space, Edginton said.

Donna Thompson, director of the National Program for Playground Safety, once shared a large single-room office with at least five other people working for the program. Now, their large space includes several individual offices, a large communal workspace and a much-needed storage room. Thompson also shares a conference room with Susan Hudson, education director for the National Program for Playground Safety and the McElroy Professor of Youth Leadership Studies, whose office is next door.

Michelle Yehieli, director of Global Health Corps/Iowa EXPORT Center of Excellence on Health Disparities, said those associated with the organizations she oversees were spread out around the Wellness/Recreation Center offices, making work difficult. The organizations train students and professionals to work with underserved people in the United States and abroad.

"I've compared us to the symphony. They were a great symphony playing in a mediocre venue when they were at McElroy. Now they are playing at the Gallagher-Bluedorn and are in a facility of equivalent stature" Yehieli said. "That is our program. And we will rise to the occasion."

Edginton, founder of Camp Adventure, said the coupling of these programs, which all fall under the school of health, physical education and leisure services umbrella, made perfect sense when designing the building.

"Other than the Youth Fitness and Obesity Institute, these programs are the most robust programs in the school … in terms of long-term sustainability and ongoing funding," he said. "With the exception of the Global Health Corps, they are all also directly focused on the same age group and there are intersecting points among all the programs in terms of what we do academically. We don't engage in a program unless it can serve as a laboratory for our academic programs."

No state money

From the outset those charged with planning the $7 million center were told they would have to do it without state money. When it became evident the project would move forward, the group secures $1.8 million in federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the Department of Public Health. That money, coupled with a $500,000 donation from Richard "Dick" Jacobson, a Des Moines-based philanthropist and a long-time supporter of Cedar Valley Medical Specialists and Allen Health Systems, was the boost fundraisers needed to begin work in earnest.

The university will use rent proceeds from the medical providers to cover operating costs, said Bill Calhoun, vice president for marketing and advancement. A portion of that money may also cover some construction costs, he added.

After Jacobson learned more about the project and future plans for the entire athletic complex he agreed to donate an additional $3 million to support the Human Performance Complex, which will bear his name. The complex includes the Human Performance Center as well as adjacent remodeled portions of the Wellness/Recreation Center and UNI-Dome.

However, Jacobson's gift did come with one stipulation: The university must raise an additional $2 million to support programs served by the complex. Calhoun said it is "well on the way toward achieving the first $1 million."

Over the next three years the university hopes to turn the existing physical therapy room inside the Wellness/Recreation Center into new locker rooms and renovate existing locker rooms to create a new strength and conditioning center. Jacobson's donation will also help fund changes inside the Dome, including creating meeting rooms and office space above the new football locker rooms on the north end. Eventually a connector will be built on the third level, connecting the east and west concourses.

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.