The Downtown medical campus construction is underway, project officials say.
The former D-Patrick building was demolished last week, crews put up a fence around the construction site and project trailers are on the lot, according to Dennis Norvet, senior vice president of Skanska operations.
The next step is a public bidding round for the excavation and foundation work, Norvet told the Evansville Redevelopment Commission on Tuesday.
The campus is located between Locust, Cherry, Fourth and Sixth streets in Downtown Evansville, directly adjacent to the convention hotel construction area.
The $61 million project is expected to wrap up by June 2018. Indiana University, University of Southern Indiana and University of Evansville have all signed leases to occupy the building, he said.
The streetscape project around the medical campus site faced a hurdle after bids for the improvements came in over budget. The three bids from local companies all come in over $13 million, which is more than 20 percent of the city’s contribution to the overall project.
Department of Metropolitan Director Kelley Coures said the design firm will modify the streetscape proposal in hopesof lowering theproject’s overall cost.