Mercer University will move med school to downtown Macon. More housing, retail coming
Mercer University has purchased riverfront property in downtown Macon to build a new medical school, officials announced Thursday.
The green plot of land at 815 Riverside Drive is currently an unused grassy field beside Barks N’ Brews on Riverside Drive, across from the former Ramada hotel that was demolished on New Years Day on First Street.
“Our city along the Ocmulgee River and First Street is about to undergo a major transformation,” Mayor Lester Miller said in a news release.
Miller intends for the project to expand downtown Macon’s most bustling streets. It marks the start of more development including lofts, hotels, restaurants and retail space.
The city also plans to potentially build a new conference center and hotel where the Ramada was imploded, according to a news release.
The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority sold the riverfront property to Mercer to “(reactivate)... our urban core,” said Alex Morrison, the executive director.
The development would bridge the Ocmulgee River with east and downtown Macon, which was part of the city’s revitalization plan since the start, according to Morrison.
He called it a “trailhead” for the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.
The Mercer University School of Medicine on its main campus opened over four decades ago and is no longer fully equipped to serve its 240 medical doctoral students, according to Jean R. Sumner, the school dean.
“The Mercer University School of Medicine’s 40-year-old facility was fully adequate to meet its needs when the school opened in 1982, but those need have changed dramatically,” Sumner said. “More and better instructional and research space is required to accommodate a growing number of students, scientists, technicians and graduate students, as well as more advanced equipment and technology.”
Mercer University President William D. Underwood said it would be harder to improve the current medical school because it lacks space and modern technology.
The new location would “meet the needs of a growing student population with 21st century technology,” Underwood said.
