Healthcare and higher education construction continues to drive investment in specialized campus facilities, with Hoar Construction advancing a $35 million expansion at the Southern College of Optometry (SCO) in Memphis. The project combines new clinical space with academic renovations while allowing teaching and patient services to remain operational throughout construction.
Work began in May 2026 and is being phased to reduce interruptions to campus activities and the institution's on-site eye care services.
The project includes construction of a new pediatric eye care clinic adjoining The Eye Center, enabling the campus to expand services for pediatric and adult patients. The development also features a new library, study areas, outdoor gathering spaces, a mezzanine and a coffee shop for students.
In addition, Hoar Construction is renovating the entrance and lower levels of SCO's 11-story classroom tower. The updated lobby will provide a larger entrance with increased natural light while improving campus accessibility and visibility along Madison Avenue.
The expansion supports an institution that serves more than 500 optometry students and provides vision care to approximately 50,000 patients each year.
Construction is taking place within a confined urban site bordered by existing campus buildings and an operating eye clinic. The project requires carefully coordinated logistics, including off-site material staging, scheduled deliveries and construction sequencing that maintains access to occupied facilities.
Crews have completed demolition, utility relocation and mass excavation. Current work includes soil stabilization using rammed aggregate piers before foundation construction begins for the new building.
The new facility will use a concrete and structural steel frame with precast concrete panels, glass curtain walls and standing seam metal roofing. Interior work will include mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems followed by clinical and educational fit-outs.
The expansion also requires connecting the new structure to two existing campus buildings while maintaining ongoing campus operations.
Healthcare education projects increasingly require contractors to balance new construction with uninterrupted clinical and academic operations. For construction owners and institutional developers, the SCO expansion highlights the importance of phased delivery, early logistics planning and specialized construction techniques when building complex facilities on active campuses.
Source: Hoar Construction.
