Newswise — The six-story, glass atrium of the new John A. Moran Eye Center will look like "a slice of light" along the University of Utah's skyline and will feature beautiful views of the Salt Lake valley from inside its clinics and research laboratories, according to Randall J. Olson, M.D., professor and chair of the University's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and center director. Olson showed the latest architectural renderings of the building during Monday's groundbreaking ceremony for the $53 million, 200,000 square foot new facility. A 10-minute video, "The Promise of Sight" also debuted at the event. The video chronicles the experiences of seven Moran Eye Center patients suffering from a variety of blinding conditions and eye diseases. The video features interviews with LDS church apostle David Haight, Utah construction magnate Alan W. Layton, and former Clorox CEO Cal Hatch, as well as other patients.
The new John A. Moran Eye Center, which was designed by Salt Lake City architectural firm FFKR and is being built by Utah-based Layton Construction, is expected to be completed by summer of 2006. The building will be located directly west of University of Utah Hospital and will replace the 82,500 square-foot John A. Moran Eye Center that opened in 1993. The current building will be used by the University to house other health sciences departments.
Monday's groundbreaking also marks the completion of the Moran Eye Center Campaign for Vision. The campaign was launched in February of 2001 with an $18 million lead gift from successful U of U alumnus turned New York financier John A. Moran. Other donors to the campaign included: the ALSAM Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, the Estelle Albaugh Estate, the Cumming Foundation, William and Patricia Child, Ida Smith, Ed and Carol Dumke, as well as the faculty and staff of the center.
"There is no other eye center in the world that has had the chance to design and open a state-of-the-art eye center, and then in 10 years, do it again," said Randall J. Olson, M.D., professor and chairman of the U of U's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and director of the center. "This new facility will more than triple the amount of laboratory space available and will allow us to house all of our vision research teams in the same building," he said.
The center's 42 faculty members are currently located in four buildings on the University campus and 10 satellite clinics across the Wasatch Front. Since 1999, the number of faculty at the center has nearly doubled.
Vision research at the center is focused on a number of areas including: artificial vision, ophthalmic genetics, retinal cell communication, and retinal cell transplantation and vision restoration.
In addition, the center is home to the David J. Apple, M.D., Laboratories for Ophthalmic Devices Research. The laboratory is the largest of its kind devoted to the study of intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery. The new building will also house the Michael Wynn Center for Inherited Retinal Degeneration. The Wynn Center is home to one of the leading genetic research groups in the world.
In addition to expanded research space, the new John A. Moran Eye Center will feature expanded clinical and surgical space to accommodate the growing number of patients requiring specialized eye care. The new center will also house the Utah Lions Eye Bank that collects, screens and distributes eye tissue for corneal transplants around the state.
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