ST. LOUIS —
Construction is well underway on Harris-Stowe State University’s $62.3 million STEM academic center, a four-story project designed to expand science and technology training while strengthening the region’s workforce pipeline.
The 82,443-square-foot building will include 12 research laboratories, maker spaces and eight flexible classrooms, according to a current project update from Greater St. Louis, Inc. A fourth-floor mixed-use area is planned to include an event venue for as many as 600 people.
Harris-Stowe broke ground in January. The university expects to begin welcoming students into the center in late July or early August 2027. ICS Construction Services Ltd. is the builder, and NAVIGATE Building Solutions is serving as the owner’s representative.
The development is the largest capital campaign initiative in the university’s history. University leaders say the center is intended to support students seeking careers in growing fields and to connect them with employers in Midtown and across the St. Louis region.
The center also will support the university’s geospatial intelligence programming. Harris-Stowe hosts an annual summer program that draws students from historically Black colleges and universities around the country for intensive training supported by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Harris-Stowe is St. Louis’ only historically Black university and Missouri’s only public HBCU. The project adds a major academic and construction investment to the Midtown corridor while creating space intended for students across multiple majors.
