John Fry's tenure as president of Franklin & Marshall College was marked by growth and major projects.

One of the biggest might come after he leaves.

Fry, who will end his eight-year tenure at F&M and take over as president of Drexel University in Philadelphia this summer, told the Philadelphia Inquirer and Central Penn Business Journal newspapers that Drexel may build a branch medical school campus in Lancaster, on the former Armstrong site in northwest Lancaster city.

The project has long been the subject of rumors. But in interviews with the two publications Fry put some meat on the bones, saying not only that he'd discussed it at length with Drexel officials — but that, as president of Drexel, he will pursue it.

Through an F&M spokeswoman Fry declined to elaborate on his comments. Drexel officials were unavailable for comment, as were officials with Lancaster General Health, which reportedly will be a partner in the project.

But other local leaders, while saying they had no knowledge of the project specifics, say the initiative has been picking up steam in recent months; there are even architectural renderings of the proposed campus. "It's pretty far along," said one former local official. "It's huge."

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said if it comes to pass, the proposal would be a tremendous benefit to the city.

"If there were a medical school in the city it would do a lot for the housing base, and provide an incredible opportunity for employment and training," Gray said. "I can't see how it would be anything but an economic boost."

Added David Nikoloff, president of the EDC Finance Corp., which helped arrange the sale of the 47-acre Armstrong site to F&M and LGH: "I'm thrilled President Fry has gone public with this. To be able to bring a facility like this [to Lancaster] is just a great opportunity."

In a lengthy interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month, Fry talked at some length about the proposal. He told a reporter that in February 2009, two months before then-Drexel President Constantine Papadakis died, the two college presidents met to discuss "starting a Drexel medical school campus near Lancaster General Hospital, where Fry is on the board."

"The two — who had known each other since Fry's days as a University of Pennsylvania executive — were enthusiastic about the project, still in its early stages," reported the Inquirer.

"They had planned to collaborate on a medical school campus connected with the Lancaster hospital, possibly offering a bachelor's/medical degree on a fast track," reported the Inquirer.

Friday, in an interview published in the Central Penn Business Journal, Fry said that "We're talking about Drexel University having a branch of their medical campus come here as well, in conjunction with an initiative of Lancaster General's to create more residency programs."

Sources say Fry has had extensive discussions with Lancaster General Chief Executive Officer Tom Beeman about the project. LGH spokesman John Lines said Beeman would not be available for an interview for this article.

Last summer, hospital officials acknowledged that there had been discussion of possibly building a medical school here. But they said it was just one potential strategy that emerged from meetings of the Lancaster Medical Manpower & Education Study Commission, which met in fall 2008 and issued a report predicting that the county would face an acute shortage of physicians by 2012.

Mayor Gray served on the commission. He said Drexel was one of several schools cited that might be willing to establish a medical school here. "There were different ideas of how [a local medical school] might affiliate, maybe [students] could do their last two years here," Gray said.

But hospital officials subsequently downplayed the prospect, with Executive Vice President Susan Wynne, also a member of the commission, stating that a medical school "is not a goal of this effort, and we have no plans for a medical school."

Last week, hospital spokesman Lines spoke broadly on the subject, saying that "we would welcome any effort to help our community address the future need for physicians."

In the Central Penn Business Journal article, Fry talked about the "really strong educational-medical corridor in Lancaster that didn't exist" prior to the redevelopment of the Armstrong site. "Lancaster General will be building their new nursing school — that's a brand-new campus in the city. The economic spinoff of that is huge," he told the Journal.

Publicly, Lancaster General has not committed to building on its 20 acres of the former industrial property, telling the Sunday News last fall that no final decision had been made.

F&M's 27-acre portion of the site already includes multipurpose playing fields, and will eventually host a new baseball field and football stadium.

Armstrong sold the 47 acres to EDC Finance Corp., which oversaw demolition and cleanup, and conveyed the property to F&M and LGH in December, Nikoloff said.

Fry will assume his new role as Drexel president Aug. 1; his last day at F&M will be June 30.

Drexel is a national research university with a $420 million-plus endowment, a $791 million operating budget and more than 8,200 employees. The university is in the second year of a $500 million capital campaign.

The Drexel University College of Medicine, according to the school's Web site, has more than 1,000 medical students and boasts the largest student enrollment of any private medical school in the country. Its main campus is in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, and it has additional facilities on Drexel's Center City campus, which includes Hahnemann University Hospital.