FEMA Releases Over $152-Million to U. of Iowa for Flood Repairs

The Federal Emergency Management Agency released $152,534,261.65 to the University of Iowa Wednesday to help replace buildings ruined by the flood that swept through the middle of the campus in June 2008. The money will go toward new homes for the Hancher Auditorium (left; Chronicle photograph) and the Voxman School of Music, as well as toward a new art building and the cost of eight temporary heating and air-conditioning units that sustained the campus while its damaged power plant was closed.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, announced the award in a news release.

Earlier this month the university chose the architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli to design a replacement for the 1972 auditorium, designed by Max Abramowitz. And Steven Holl Architects is working on plans for a new art building. The university plans to move the music school from its current location beside the Iowa River to downtown Iowa City, where the school is expected to occupy the first several floors of a yet-unbuilt residential condominium tower. Performance spaces for the school will be located just across the street.

Still under negotiation is the fate of the university’s art museum, which FEMA determined could be repaired, rather than replaced. University officials, however, say insurers have refused to provide policies for art displayed or stored in the existing building, which is also beside the river.