New building construction will continue

BY LINDA EVANS
Editor, RichmondNow

Just because Lakeview residence hall and the renovation of Freeman Hall are complete, construction crews won’t be leaving campus this year.

New construction projects this year will include the Westhampton Center, the Carole Weinstein International Center, the expansion of the Robins School of Business and the expansion of First Market Stadium into an on-campus football stadium. Richmond City Council gave final approval for the stadium July 28.

Tyler Haynes Commons will be under renovation during the academic year. The Career Development Center will move into renovated space on the building’s third floor in September, said John Hoogakker, associate vice president for facilities.

“Other work in the building will include a new third-floor Student Leader-ship Center and meeting rooms, a new ‘streetscape’ treatment of the second-floor walk-through, and an extensive social-activity area on the first floor in the former game room,” he said. Work will conclude in late spring or early summer.  

Of the major projects, the Westhampton Center will start first—early in the fall, said Hoogakker. It will be followed quickly by the international center, scheduled to begin in late 2008.

Construction is scheduled to begin on the stadium in early 2009 and at the business school in the spring.

The University will apply for certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) of both the Westhampton Center and international center, said Hoogakker.

The Westhampton Center will complement the Deanery—formerly the home of West-hampton’s first dean, May Keller—with a new building similar in size and architecture. It will include permanent space for the Westhampton College Student Government Associ-ation, class cabinets, WILL and residence life.

A large living room for late-night study or special events, glass doors that open onto the Gillette Garden, and a loggia that connects the two buildings also are features. A small museum will house Westhampton College artifacts. In addition, there will be new office space for Westhampton College staff, including a women’s resource director.

The building is expected to open in early 2010.

The Carole Weinstein International Center will enhance the University’s rapidly growing international programs. Its namesake donated $9 million for its construction and has been a generous supporter of the international education program for two decades.

The 40,000-square-foot facility will house the Office of International Education, which includes study-abroad and international exchange programs. It also will be home to the departments of Modern Literatures and Cultures and Latin American and Iberian Studies, as well as interdisciplinary programs focused on international education or offering a global perspective.

A center courtyard will contain a fountain with a 6-foot, open-work globe, said Hoogakker. The building was designed by Glavé Holmes Architects of Richmond and will be built by Taylor and Parrish, which also constructed the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness. Located between Jepson Hall and Sarah Brunet Hall, it should be completed in fall 2010.

The business school will name its new wing Queally Hall in honor of Anne-Marie and Paul B. Queally, both 1986 graduates, who gave $6 million to complete funding for the expansion.

The 33,000-square-foot addition will house classrooms, offices, meeting spaces, a 225-seat auditorium, a marketing research lab and a simulated capital markets trading room.