JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — Binghamton University’s new Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences building represents just one component of the school’s health-sciences campus in Johnson City. 

It’s located in the former “blighted” Corliss Avenue neighborhood in the village, which is just south of the village’s Main Street business district. 

That’s according to the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who spoke at the school’s ceremony to formally open the facility on Oct. 25. 

The Decker College welcomed its first students to Johnson City in 2021. The now-completed, six-story, 112,000-square-foot facility is located inside of the repurposed Endicott Johnson shoe box factory. Once a 97,000-square-foot structure, the project included the construction of a 15,000-square-foot addition to the original building. 

The state has spent a total of $287 million to complete the 13-acre health-sciences campus in downtown Johnson City, which includes Decker College, and STEM-education initiatives at Binghamton University, per the governor’s office.

New York State’s provision of $287 million includes funding from both SUNY and Empire State Development, Hochul’s office added. 

The project also includes the Binghamton University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which graduated its first class this past spring. 

The school is also currently partnering with Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton to construct a nearby elder-care facility that will serve the community and allow students to receive hands-on clinical experience.

“Our Health Sciences Initiative and the Johnson City campus did not simply materialize overnight but resulted from our Road Map strategic-planning process. We knew we had significant strengths in the health sciences and there exists a local, regional and nationwide workforce problem that we could help alleviate,” Harvey Stenger, president of Binghamton University, said. “After years of planning and support from all corners of our University community and beyond, we successfully designed programs for our School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and built additional curriculum and programs around our Decker School of Nursing, which has evolved into the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. We are thrilled to also be transforming the urban core of Johnson City. Our strategy of targeting downtown communities for our expansion efforts paid off in Binghamton and now is having similar, positive impacts in the village.”

More than 130 faculty and staff are employed across Decker College, which has over 700 students, both undergraduate and graduate, per Hochul’s office.