New faces are not the only change at the University this fall. When upperclass students return, they will be met by a new first-year class as well as by updates across Grounds. Though some construction began before exams ended in May, some areas may look surprisingly different to students who have been out of town for three months.
The four most noticeable construction areas on and near Grounds are the South Lawn Project, Bavaro Hall, the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center and the completion of Kellogg, the newest residence hall. Here’s a look beyond the drilling and steel to the progress of these projects and their eventual uses.
South Lawn Project
The biggest construction project in a century, the South Lawn is a massive undertaking across Jefferson Park Avenue from New Cabell Hall. It will eventually hold classrooms, offices and community spaces, but for now, it is a collection of steel structures.
Since its groundbreaking Sept. 29, 2006, Project Director James Kelley said the South Lawn Project is close to 38 percent finished and still on target for its 2010 completion date.
Another milestone approaches in the South Lawn’s construction: In mid-September, the terrace joining the South Lawn to Central Grounds over top of JPA will be erected.
But don’t worry — traffic will not be affected too much, according to Kelley. A majority of the work that would require closing lanes on JPA will be done after hours and at night so as not to disrupt regular day traffic. Kelley said work is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14, but those dates could change.
“We’ll put up the base structure [for the terrace] in those two days,” Kelley said. “Following that, there will be a flurry of activities like putting in concrete and so forth. Those will also be done predominantly at night and at off hours.”
Another consequence of the project is the covered pedestrian walkway that is currently encroaching into one lane of JPA. Kelley said as long as construction is going on, there will be a covered walkway, but noted that he hopes it can be relocated in late summer or early fall, allowing JPA to return to three lanes.
The bus stop by the zigzag wooden walkway is also temporary. Kelley said construction of the permanent bus stop at the corner of Brandon Avenue and JPA is underway and should be completed by early December. When the permanent stop is finished, the temporary stop with its walkway will be removed.
Another challenge of the South Lawn construction is its proximity to classrooms in New Cabell Hall. Drilling and jackhammering on the South Lawn can grow tiresome for classes in progress just across the street.
Kelley said students will not have to worry about their classes being disrupted this semester because most of the noise-producing elements of construction are over.
“There will be typical general construction noises — hammers and minor things like that — but no major significant sound issues,” Kelley said. “We worked through the more significant ones this summer.”
Watch your step on JPA as you navigate the construction, and keep your eyes open for the structural elements of the terrace over top of the roadway to appear.
Bavaro Hall
The construction near Ruffner Hall, the home of the Education School, is beginning to take shape into Bavaro Hall. Work began on the project in early May 2008 following a groundbreaking ceremony in October 2007.
The Education School is more than a top-notch program for training teachers because it also includes a collection of clinics that help school-age children and their families.
With Bavaro’s four floors and 65,000 square feet, four of the clinics — the Center for Clinical Psychology, the Speech-Language-Hearing Center, the Personal and Career Development Center and the McGuffey Reading Center — will be brought closer together. The Center for Clinical Psychology and the Speech-Language-Hearing Center will be housed in Bavaro, while the Personal and Career Development Center and the McGuffey Reading Center will be in nearby Ruffner, according to the school’s Web site.
A need for more space and this kind of collaboration was the main reason why plans for Bavaro took shape, Education Prof. Luke Kelly said. Kelly, who is the Education School’s liaison between the school and the construction and architecture companies designing the building, also maintains a blog about Bavaro’s progress and any road or sidewalk closings relevant to the University community.
Kelly said he thinks most aspects of the construction that require road or sidewalk closings were completed over the summer so the project will not “disadvantage people over the academic year.”
If there will be such an inconvenience, Kelly said he will get advance notice of a month or a few weeks and post the information on his blog, which is accessible from the Education School Web site.
So who exactly is Bavaro? The hall is named for Anthony D. “Wally” Bavaro, who played professional football before becoming a teacher in Massachusetts, according to the Curry Foundation Web site.
Curry Foundation Chair Dan Meyers donated $23 million to the project — well more than half the $37.2 million total budget — and named the hall for his friend, the Web site stated.
Meyers “thought [Bavaro] made a contribution to his life and other students,” Kelly said. “It’s rather unique for someone to give that much money and name it after a teacher who influenced his life.”
The remainder of the money was raised primarily by the Curry Foundation, Kelly said. With occupancy of Bavaro slated for 2010, students will be able to start their careers as teachers aided by the programs and amenities of the new building.
Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center
Just off Grounds, an award-winning health system serves the University and Central Virginia communities. There is a bit of dust around it currently, but that’s just because construction on a new cancer center is underway.
The Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center will be 5 floors and 150,000 square feet upon completion. It is named after Emily Couric — a Virginia state senator and sister of University alumna and news anchor Katie Couric — who passed away from pancreatic cancer in October 2001.
While Couric was being treated at the University Medical Center, she “expressed a need for a comprehensive cancer center” at the University, said Thomas Harkins, chief environment of care officer. Planning began, and ground was broken on the project April 12.
Currently, cancer patients are treated in the existing clinic in the West Complex Building. Harkins said in addition to Couric’s wish, a new cancer center was planned because of a combination of a need for a “more up-to-date [clinic] and expanded space to take care of cancer patients and their families.”
If construction stays on schedule, the center will be finished in December 2010 and will see its first patients in April 2011. The lag time in between is so all the necessary equipment and machines can be installed, Harkins said.
The project budget of $74 million came from three sources: a state contribution of $25 million, philanthropy from multiple sources and hospital revenue sources, according to Harkins.
Any inconveniences because of construction to the University community will be limited to Lee Street and the portion of JPA near the Medical Center. Additionally, Harkins said neither road will ever be completely closed, but there may be lane closings.
Kellogg
As new students flock Alderman and McCormick Roads, some dorms will see their last class while others see their first. Amid all the new first-year faces, there is another new face on the block — that of Kellogg, the newest residence hall. Located behind Balz in the Alderman Road residences, Kellogg will see its first residents today.
Kellogg is just the start of a massive construction project in which all of the Alderman Road residences will be torn down except for Cauthen and Woody to make room for new dorms, according to University Housing’s Web site. All of the new dorms will be hall-style.
Vicki Gist, interim associate dean of students and director of Residence Life, said Kellogg is roughly comparable to the hall-style residences of McCormick Road, with two joined wings that share floor bathrooms.
Kellogg has updated features as well, including elevators, study lounges on each floor and perhaps most important for first-year students, air conditioning.
The first residents to arrive were the resident advisors, who began moving in Aug. 14. RAs are not allowed to speak to the media about housing projects, but Gist said “they seem very happy there.” As they should be — each RA’s room in Kellogg is equipped with its own bathroom.
Kellogg will house 194 first years and 9 RAs, according to University Housing’s Web site. The McCormick Road residences house about 125 students.
The next step in the larger project is to tear down Dobie. Unlike last year, when Alderman Road residents were plagued with construction noises throughout the year as crews built Kellogg, there will be no actual construction during the academic year, Gist said. The demolition of Dobie will begin soon after graduation.
The rest of the project will happen more quickly, Gist said. Two new residence halls will be built at the same time from here on out instead of each one being constructed singly like Kellogg.
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