UConn to break ground for planned state-of-art nursing building

The University of Connecticut will hold a groundbreaking for its planned state-of-the-art nursing building on Wednesday at the Storrs campus, officials said.

The new building will be about 90,000 square feet and include instructional spaces, including a lecture hall and classrooms, simulation lab suite, human behavioral research lab, wet lab, student academic center and offices and support spaces, officials said. The new school of nursing building is scheduled to open in July 2026 and it will be located adjacent to existing clinical, academic, and research space, the school said in a statement.

UConn leaders, faculty, students, benefactors, and state elected officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont, are expected to participate in the groundbreaking event, according to the school.

The project is supported by $30 million in bond authorizations approved by the General Assembly in the 2023 legislative session as well as a private donation by Elisabeth DeLuca class of ’69, according to reporting from UConn Today .

“Here in Connecticut, we strongly value those who enter the nursing profession, and we want to do everything we can to support them as they fulfill their necessary educational requirements,” Lamont has said.

“By constructing a new, state-of-the-art building for the UConn School of Nursing, we are not only creating a place that can provide nursing students with the latest tools that will serve them well throughout their careers, but we are also showing anyone who may be considering entering this selfless field just how much of a priority nursing is to our state while also taking steps necessary to combat nursing shortages,” he has said. “On behalf of the state of Connecticut, I thank Elisabeth DeLuca for her very generous gift and her commitment to our nursing students. Matched together with state bond funding, these funds will enable this vision to become a reality.”

DeLuca served as head nurse of Intensive Services at Bridgeport Hospital before joining her now late husband, Subway cofounder Frederick A. DeLuca in running his business. She currently serves as president of the Elisabeth C. DeLuca Foundation and the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation .

Officials said the groundbreaking is planned for 2 p.m. on Oct. 30, at the corner of Bolton Road and Maple Lane on the UConn Storrs campus. Parking will be located at UConn Lot R, at the corner of Bolton Road and Maple Lane.

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com