Marshall board approves purchase of property to be future home for medical school

The Marshall University Board of Governors on Wednesday approved the purchase of nearly four acres of land in downtown Huntington to be the future home of its medical school. 

The 3.9-acre property located between Northcott Court and Hal Greer Boulevard in Huntington, West Virginia, will cost the school $3.3 million plus an $350,000 administrative fee to Fairmount Properties, which had expressed interest in the property. 

The property — owned by the Huntington Housing Authority — is vacant and has been for some time, said Leah Payne, director of communications for the school. 

The site will be home to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and the Community Health Institute, which are currently housed in several buildings on the school’s campus. The property acquisition will allow the school to build and house the medical school in one building.

The project comes as the school prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027. 

According to a history of the school, the state Legislature first appropriated funding to the school in 1975. It was granted accreditation in 1976 and its first class entered in January 1978 and graduated in 1981.

Funding for the project will come from a $30 million appropriation from the state of West Virginia, Chief Legal Officer H. Toney Stroud told the board of governors. Another $31 million for the project comes from federal funds thanks to the efforts of West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Toney said. 

“We’re about two-thirds of the way home,” he said. “(We) still have some fundraising to do, but this will give us the ability to move forward and have our own school of medicine in the Health Sciences District.”

The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine is one of three medical schools in the state, along with the West Virginia School of Medicine and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg. 

Toney told the board that Marshall is currently the only accredited school of medicine without a stand-alone facility.

“This would give us the ability to build a school of medicine and a community health institute which will house our pillars within our medical district,” he said. 

Payne said the school’s goal is to start construction on the project in fall 2027.