Key buildings on the University City campus are likely to be vacated by the end of summer 2025, according to an email to the university community.

The closures of McNeil Science and Technology Center (STC), 4140 Woodland Avenue, Alumni Hall and the Athletic/Recreation Center (ARC) are part of the university’s continued “strategy to centralize undergraduate living and learning on Hawk Hill and create a hub for specialized health professions and related graduate programs in University City,” according to the Jan. 16 email, sent by Jill Cleary ’00, Ed.D. ’23, vice president of administration and operations, and Jean McGivney-Burelle, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president of academic affairs.

The STC houses 13 research laboratories ranging in size from 200 to 600 square feet, eight teaching laboratories, an auditorium and additional office spaces. The ARC contains an indoor track, basketball court, cardio and strength centers and additional meeting spaces which can be used by student groups.

4140 Woodland Avenue houses student study spaces, the Office of Facilities Management’s shop space, the P.O.D. and Freshens, the on-campus dining option following the closure of Wilson Dining Hall in Wilson Student Center at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

The university’s intent to vacate these buildings marks the most recent steps toward an overall plan to sell the UCity campus either individually or as a whole, according to property listings. If the entire campus is sold, certain buildings would be leased back to the university, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer Jan. 22.

“I can share that interest is strong and we do have offers on our outlier properties,” Cleary wrote in a follow-up email to The Hawk, though she said she could not provide further information at this time.

The closures will coincide with “several enhancements” regarding food, fitness and study areas on the UCity campus, the Jan. 16 announcement stated. 

Woodland Hall will gain a coffee cafe, and the Integrated Professional Education Complex (IPEX) will see “on-demand fresh food options,” Cleary told The Hawk. These services will provide on-campus food options previously provided by Freshens and the P.O.D. 

The Woodland Hall cafe will also include both individual and group study spaces, Cleary wrote.

The STC’s closure will not affect course availability for UCity students, wrote Nathan Baird, Ph.D., associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of chemistry, in an email to The Hawk. Classes formerly held in the STC will be moved to IPEX, Griffith or Woodland Hall or be held online, he stated.

Baird added that research and teaching labs in the STC would be moved to Hawk Hill’s Science Center, with the Science Center’s labs undergoing renovations “to better accommodate the specific teaching and research needs of our faculty and students.”

STC has seen a decline in the number of courses scheduled this academic year and primarily offers biology, pharmaceutical science and physics classes, Baird wrote.

“The decrease in course offerings reflects the university’s strategic shift to Hawk Hill for undergraduate programs, reducing the number of general education and natural science courses needed in University City,” Baird wrote.

In the spring 2024 semester, 72 classes were scheduled in the STC, compared to only 22 in spring 2025, Baird wrote. 

Carlos E. Moreno, DrOT, assistant clinical professor of occupational therapy and the faculty liaison for diversity, equity and inclusion on the UCity campus, said he wouldn’t be losing any classrooms due to the STC’s closure. However, Moreno said due to the STC’s location in the middle of campus, UCity loses a community marker with its closure.

“It’s a central gathering place for all members of the community, students, faculty,” Moreno said. “And so, losing that, we lose a central meeting place, a central welcoming space.”

Moreno also noted that the STC was used by occupational therapy students for important milestones and ceremonies, including capstone presentations and the pinning ceremony for occupational therapy students.

In place of the services provided by the ARC, the university is exploring a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and will be adding an indoor fitness center in Glasser Hall, wrote Jill Bodensteiner, J.D., vice president and director of athletics. Bodensteiner said the ARC has experienced daily averages of 115 to 150 users per day during the 2024-25 academic year.

Liang Ren ’25, University Student Senate’s student body vice president at UCity, said at a Jan. 23 meeting of students within the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, students voiced their concerns, particularly with how closures seemed to disregard student feedback.

Bodensteiner said the new enhancements, particularly the new fitness space in Glasser, will take student opinions into account.

“The design and equipment will be influenced by student feedback,” Bodensteiner wrote. “We’re also working to activate outdoor recreation areas, with details to be finalized based on student input.”

All additions will be made during the summer of 2025 to be ready for the fall 2025 semester, Bodensteiner wrote.

Abigail Gracius ’26 said she doesn’t hold much trust in the university’s word about the proposed replacement services.

“When I first deposited and was told about the merge, we were told that nothing was going to change, that it was just going to be a name swap. We’d never have a class on the Hawk Hill campus,” Gracious said. “And literally a semester in, I had a class on the Hawk Hill campus. And then as the years progressed, everything was getting moved to Hawk Hill.”

Ren said the professional working groups on the UCity Student Senate have been gathering input from undergraduate students for faculty members to pass on to the university. Ren also said there are faculty members who have been “a great help in facilitating the conversation between the two campuses.”

Ren suggested that more members of the St. Joe’s community should visit the UCity campus to take advantage of the community’s offerings and to listen to student voices.

“[UCity students] want to know that the people who are deciding our campus has actually been to our campus multiple times and is willing to put their efforts into talking to the students themselves,” Ren said.

Liv Bielawski ’27 contributed to this story.