With Final Exercises come and gone and most students away for the summer, the University of Virginia has ramped up construction on a host of new buildings across Grounds.
Multiple projects have already wrapped, while others still take years to complete.
The new facilities are concentrated in a few key areas, from the heart of the 205-year-old school on Central Grounds to the high-traffic Emmet-Ivy corridor to the growing Fontaine Research Park to the newer athletics complex taking root around McCue Center.
Three projects are either under construction or were recently completed in the Ivy Road-Emmet Street area just west of Central Grounds. The area is envisioned as an arts and academics precinct connecting Central Grounds to North Grounds, home to the School of Law and Darden School of Business.
Below is a snapshot of construction projects, completed and in the works, around Grounds, including 2024 budgeted costs, expected wrap dates and more:
School of Data Science
Completion: spring 2024.
Cost: $120 million.
The School of Data Science was the product of a $120 million donation by Charlottesville investor Jaffray Woodriff, the largest private donation in UVa’s history. This year, the four-story, 61,000-square foot building opened, featuring a sunlit atrium and new classrooms.
Virginia Guesthouse Hotel & Conference Center
Completion: spring 2025.
Cost: $168 million.
One of UVa’s largest new projects is a 220,000-square foot, 217-room hotel and conference center set to open in 2025. It will have amenities such as a restaurant, cafe and bar. It is set to be completed next year.
Karsh Institute of Democracy
Completion: summer 2026.
Cost: $80 million.
A new building will give a permanent home to the Karsh Institute of Democracy, the product of a $50 million donation from investor Bruce Karsh and his wife Martha. The donation was matched in full by the university, for a total of $100 million to go towards both the institute and the building which will house it. The Karsh Institute has already been operating out of another university building: the Bond House student dormitory. The Karsh project renderings show a sleek facade built around a central auditorium. The idea behind the center is to promote collaboration between the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the School of Law and the various other UVa departments which study democracy and government, such as the UVa Center for Politics, the Miller Center of Public Affairs and others.
Manning Institute of Biotechnology
Completion: late 2026.
Cost: $350 million.
Another massive gift, $100 million from Gordonsville-based tycoon Paul Manning and his wife Diane, will go toward a five-story, 350,000-square foot building in the Fontaine Research Park southwest of Grounds. The institute will further research in medical treatments, such as immunotherapy and gene therapy, and it is expected to create nearly 2,500 jobs. The institute is imagined as a competitor to North Carolina’s Research Triangle, anchored by North Carolina State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and home to more than 250 businesses including multinational R&D operations and entrepreneurial-driven startups.
Central Energy Plant
Completion: summer 2026.
Cost: $70 million.
The Central Energy Plant is expected to provide heating and cooling for the new biotechnology center and is expandable to serve the rest of the Fontaine complex if need be. It will be the first “zero-combustion” fossil fuel-free plant on Grounds.
Parking garage and road improvements
Cost: $71 million
Along with the new Institute of Biotechnology at Fontaine Research Park will come a new parking garage as well as improved road infrastructure. The garage is planned to hold 1,250 vehicles and will also have a university bus stop. Ray C. Hunt Drive, the Fontaine complex’s main thoroughfare, will be upgraded with a roundabout just off of Fontaine Avenue.
Shumway Hall-Cobb Hall renovation
Completion: spring 2025.
Cost: $140 million.
Cobb Hall, which has stood on the southeast corner of the Lawn since 1917, will become part of a larger complex as UVa constructs the new Shumway Hall, thanks to a $25 million gift from Chris and Carrie Shumway. UVa began the project by demolishing a large part of the old Cobb Hall, reducing its former H-shaped footprint to more of a T shape. Shumway Hall will be constructed between the remaining part of Cobb Hall and Jefferson Park Avenue, and will include an open courtyard, classrooms, event spaces, a cafe and other amenities.
Demolition of Ridley Footbridge
Completion: July 2024.
With the completion of a new footbridge across Emmet Street closer to the school’s Contemplated Commons, the 1970s-era Ridley Footbridge came down earlier this month. The key difference between the two bridges: The old one had sets of stairs at either end and was thus not wheelchair-accessible and the new bridge is fed into only by ramps, though it is 2 feet narrower than Ridley Footbridge.
Olympic Sports Complex
Completion: fall 2025.
Cost: $76 million
UVa completed a major milestone in its athletics master plan with the opening of its new, lavish Football Operations Center in June. Next, the school will renovate the McCue Center, which formerly hosted football programs, and construct an addition which will hold new locker rooms and offices for "nonrevenue" sports such as field hockey, cross country, track and field, lacrosse, rowing and soccer.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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