Gifts benefit arena, South Lawn projects

VMDO Architects of Charlottesville

The University’s hoop dreams are getting closer to reality thanks to recent gifts from Paul Tudor Jones II and William H. Goodwin Jr. Here is an architect’s rendering of the new 15,000-seat basketball arena, designed by VMDO Architects and scheduled for completion in 2006.

Staff report

Three major gifts have given new impetus to two of the University’s biggest projects.

New commitments of $10 million from Paul Tudor Jones II of Greenwich, Conn., and $5 million from William H. Goodwin Jr., a member of the Board of Visitors, have enabled the multipurpose sports and special events center to reach the $75 million mark toward the total cost of $130 million.

In addition, an $8.5 million gift from U.Va. alumnus John L. Nau III and his wife, Bobbie, will make possible a new building for the history department as part of the South Lawn Project.

The commitment by the Houston couple is the largest to date to advance the South Lawn Project, an ensemble of buildings to be constructed adjacent to the historic structures on the Lawn.

The arena will be built on Massie Road across from University Hall, U.Va.’s current basketball venue. Built in 1965, U-Hall holds fewer than 8,400 seats and is the smallest basketball arena in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Among its many uses, the proposed arena is designed to provide a new home court for the men’s and women’s basketball programs with seating for 15,000. The new gifts have provided the green light for construction, which is scheduled for completion in 2006.

Jones’ recent commitment follows a $20 million pledge made in 2001.

“The remarkable generosity of Paul Jones and Bill Goodwin exemplifies their uncommon devotion to elevating both our academic and athletics programs,” said President John T. Casteen III.

Jones, a 1976 U.Va. grad, is chairman of the Tudor Group, a money management firm he founded in the 1980s. Over the past 15 years, he has given to many areas of the University.

Goodwin, a member of the Board of Visitors since 1996, is chairman of CCA Industries Inc. He and his wife, Alice, have given more than $25 million to the Darden School, where he received his MBA in 1966. Recently, the Goodwins committed nearly $10 million to advancing innovative cancer treatments at U.Va.

Nau, a 1968 graduate of U.Va., and his wife also have been longtime benefactors. They have sustained efforts to study the Civil War, and their gifts have benefited building restoration as well as U.Va.’s football program.

Nau helped establish U.Va.’s College Foundation and is the incoming president of the foundation’s board of trustees and chair of its development committee.

The $160 million South Lawn project will encompass nearly 300,000 square feet of new and renovated space, providing new facilities for 11 of the 26 departments in the College of Arts & Sciences. It will accommodate 12,000 student visits a day.