EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) – Evansville is making progress toward a four-year regional program of the Indiana University School of Medicine.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports the city’s Redevelopment Commission contracted with an architecture firm Tuesday to help evaluate potential downtown locations for the facility.

IU intends to establish an Evansville site where medical students can complete all four years of their studies while having residency opportunities in the region. A two-year program now is housed at the University of Southern Indiana. The new facility, with at least 100,000 square feet, also would house health science programs offered by USI, the University of Evansville and Ivy Tech Community College.

Construction costs are estimated at $35 million. Funding will be requested when the General Assembly considers the state’s next two-year budget in 2015.

Source: WISHTV