The Board of Visitors Building and Grounds Committee met Thursday to approve schematic designs of ongoing projects, including new second-year housing and a North Grounds Parking Garage on the Emmet-Ivy Corridor. They also reviewed designs for a new University Center for the Arts. Several Committee members expressed concern over the costs and benefits of these projects, and Bert Ellis, board member and class of 1975 alumnus, took a stand against high University spending by opposing every item on the agenda.
The Emmet-Ivy Corridor served as the primary topic and “theme” of this Committee meeting, with all three major points of discussion being projects in the area according to Colette Sheehy, senior vice president for operations and state government relations.
In 2016, the Committee approved a long term plan to redevelop the Ivy Corridor in order to enhance safety, maximize greenspace, accommodate transportation, provide appropriate screening of the parking garage and optimize development. Two years later, University President Jim Ryan established the Emmet-Ivy Task Force to make recommendations on how to best use this land.
At its meeting Thursday, the Committee discussed plans for new student housing to accommodate second-year student housing needs and meet the University’s goal of housing all second-years on Grounds by 2030, in accordance with Ryan’s 2030 Plan. Located at the northwestern end of the 14.5-acre Emmet Ivy Corridor, this new student housing will offer 750 to 800 beds in apartment-style units primarily for upperclassmen students.
Before approving this initiative, the Committee debated issues of cost, location and housing competition from the private sector which may decrease demand. There were several concerns from Committee members about the short term demand for housing in the Emmet-Ivy Corridor and whether off-Grounds, private sector housing will pose a threat to the demand for on-Grounds housing as the supply of the latter increases.
Board member David Webb expressed concern about the demand for housing on the Emmet-Ivy Corridor due to its distance from Central Grounds and the Corner, one of the major hubs for student life.
“I am a huge supporter of second year housing because I watched my kids go through it and it was miserable,” Webb said. “But I asked the same kids and their friends, would they ever live [on the Ivy Corridor]? and they said … ‘Not in a million years, it’s too far to the nightlife and all that, and it's no fun.’ So my view is there's probably limited demand here.”
Sheehy disagreed with Webb’s concerns about student demand for second-year housing, stating that new housing on the Emmet-Ivy Corridor would be filled. According to Sheehy, on-Grounds housing continues to run out each year and many students are forced to look for off-Grounds in what she calls a “September Scramble.”
“We have a very large demand from our students to live on-Grounds, and we don't have enough capacity to house them now,” Sheehy said. “It is a more affordable option [than off-Grounds] housing — it's less in terms of rent, plus they only have a nine month lease. If you live in the private sector, you probably have at least a 10, 11 or 12 month lease, and it's much more expensive.”
Ellis opposed the creation of new student housing, as well as every action item on the Committee agenda, as he said that the University is spending too much on unnecessary projects. According to Ellis, the University should be focusing on cutting unnecessary expenditures so as to enable a reduction in tuition costs for University students.
“I'm going to vote no on any expenditures to be brought to this board until I have seen a 2025-26 budget for this university that includes significant cuts in administrative expenses,” Ellis said. “I am on record and personally believe that we can take 200 million out of our budget, and in the process, we can eliminate a lot of duplicative and counterproductive programs and services that have crept into our organization through a lack of budgetary discipline by this board.”
Despite Ellis’ opposition, the Committee approved adding the construction of new student housing in the Emmett-Ivy Corridor to the 2025 Major Capital Plan as well as the schematic design of this project. The Major Capital Plan is a budgetary plan which is renewed and adjusted annually to allow for the development of new construction projects and reevaluation of ongoing projects. The Finance Committee is now tasked with evaluating the financial feasibility of this project.
The Committee also approved the schematic design of the North Grounds Parking Garage. This garage will be a six-level structure containing approximately 1,000 spaces and will address demand for parking from commuters as well as sports game attendees. The garage will be located near John Paul Jones Arena next to the intersection of Massie and Copeley Roads.
Though it did not have an attached action item, the Committee also heard updates about the proposed Center for the Arts, a new building designed to expand opportunities for student creativity and expression. Gary McCluskie, principal at the architectural firm Diamond Schmitt, and University Architect Alice Raucher presented this center to introduce the Committee to the ongoing approved project.
Approved by the BOV in 2021, this building is set to be located on the back-right corner of the Emmet-Ivy Corridor adjacent to Emmet Street. The five-story, 210,000 square foot building will include the 1,200-seat Richard and Tessa Ader Performing Arts Center and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Music Department. This Center will also host programming for the University’s Fralin Museum of Art and Kluge-Ruhe Gallery.
In the Fall of 2018, the Emmet-Ivy Task Force recommended that the University focus development on three nexuses — Creativity and Experimental Arts, Discovery, and Democracy. According to the online agenda, the Center for the Arts will function as the creative anchor of the Emmet Ivy Corridor, affirming the University’s commitment to the arts.
“So while an important site for an important program, this building will also be part of an ensemble of buildings that are intended to create a collective sense of community, offering shared resources and building on our tradition of buildings and excuses in a harmonious relationship with the landscape,” Raucher said.
The Center for the Arts will in part be paid for by the state government and a gift from Richard and Tessa Ader for the Performing Arts Center. Committee Chair John Nau III stated that even if the University received the Commonwealth grant, he was concerned about the cost and scale of this $315 million project.
“[There’s] a lot of work to be done, but the key question is ‘Is this a nice to have, or is it a must have building?’” Nau said. “It seems to me to be the primary issue in front of us, as a board, is managing resources. And it just seems the scale [of this project] is really big.”
The construction and design for the Center of Arts was not up for approval at this meeting but, according to Nau, there will be much more discussion concerning this project at future Committee meetings. The Buildings and Grounds Committee will meet again at the next Board meeting March 6, 2025.
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