Johnson & Wales University announces plans for new $40M academic building on former I-195 land

Johnson & Wales University has announced plans for a new $40 million academic building on the land opened up by the relocation of Interstate 195.

The school said Tuesday it plans to build a 60,000-square-foot building that will house the School of Engineering & Design and a new biology program in the College of Arts & Sciences.

The facility will house a technology and design center, classrooms, faculty offices and other meeting space.

Johnson & Wales bought two parcels of the former I-195 land in 2012 as part of its plans to expand downtown.

The new building is expected to be complete in the summer of 2016.