Official Groundbreaking for Robert Schattner Center Marks New Era for SDM

Date: April 1999
Contact: Office of Communications
(215) 573-8224

Construction crews formally broke ground today at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine for the Robert Schattner Center, a state-of-the-art clinical facility that will advance the school's teaching and research activities, while enhancing its ability to provide high-quality care to the community.

The event was attended by nearly 500 faculty, students, alumni, and friends of the school, which was held on the future site of the Schattner Center at 40th and Locust Streets. Guests of honor were Dr. and Mrs. Robert Schattner, who provided key support for the project. Dr. Schattner is an SDM alumnus, President of Sporicidin, and inventor of Chloraseptic mouthwash. The Schattners' commitment of $4 million represents the largest gift in SDM's history. Other guests and dignitaries who shared the stage with SDM Dean Raymond Fonseca included University of Pennsylvania President Judith Rodin; Provost Robert Barchi; Adele Schaeffer, Chair of SDM's Board of Overseers; State Representative James Roebuck, Jr.; Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell; and Associate Dean James Galbally.

The Schattner Center will house many of the School's facilities for patient care, including a new patient admissions and emergency clinic, an oral and maxillofacial surgery clinics, and a specialized facility for medically compromised patients, including those with HIV. In addition, plans for the 70,000-square-foot building provide for patient meeting areas, conference rooms, faculty offices, and a gallery to display works from the collection that was donated to the School by its 19th-century benefactor Thomas W. Evans.

Dean Raymond Fonseca notes that the Schattner Center will make the school both physically and symbolically more accessible to all the School's visitors, including the more than 16,000 individuals who access SDM clinical facilities each year for their dental care. Treatment and waiting areas are designed to accommodate patients in a plesant environment that is consistent with the standards for care delivery today.

Designed by the Philadelphia-based architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, with the New York based York Hunter as general contractor, the Robert Schattner Center is scheduled for completion in fall 2000.