(L to R) University of Pikeville president James Hurley, USDA Rural Development acting under secretary Doug O’Brien,
USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities program state director Thomas G. Fern, and Pikeville City manager Donovan Blackburn.
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PIKEVILLE. Ky.—The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development acting under secretary Doug O’Brien announced Sept. 24, 2014, that the agency’s Community Facilities program has approved a $40 million loan to help the University of Pikeville construct a facility to house the Kentucky College of Optometry. Construction started this month on the 90,000-square-foot facility that is scheduled to be completed in 2016, when the school is expected to begin admitting its first students, as reported by VMail March 3, 2014. With an estimated 60 students admitted per class, the program will have a total capacity of 240.

“This new investment will provide opportunities on many fronts, including education, health care and economic diversity,” said University of Pikeville president James L. Hurley. “With our nationally recognized medical school, and now a college of optometry, we are establishing an integrated health care model for rural medicine.”

This program will be the first college of optometry in the state and the 22nd in the country. Andrew Buzzelli, OD, MS, was appointed as the founding dean of the Kentucky College of Optometry in April 2014, as reported by VMail, April 14, 2014.

The project’s estimated $52 million cost includes a $5.5 million applicant contribution, $3.7 million in private donations, a $1.5 million Appalachian Regional Commission grant, and a $1.3 million Department of Commerce grant. The project at the Kentucky College of Optometry is one of many being highlighted by the SOAR (Shaping Our Appalachian Region) initiative, which was created to boost economic development in Eastern Kentucky.