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 May
7, 2003
By
Jim Travisano
McIntire
alumni and friends gathered on the evening of April 24 to kick off
"Back to the Lawn: The Capital Campaign for the McIntire
School of Commerce."
The
gala event celebrated McIntire’s plans to develop a 125,000-square-foot
academic complex at the southeast end of the Lawn. Coupled with
the building project, Back to the Lawn will enhance collaboration
with the College of
Arts & Sciences on numerous programs.
The
project, which is estimated to cost $50 million, comprises the complete
renovation of Rouss Hall, McIntire’s former home, and the construction
of a building behind Rouss. The new 100,000-square-foot structure
will front on Hospital Drive to the east and border Randall and
Wilson halls to the north and south, respectively.
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The
upper two floors of the renovated Rouss Hall will include:
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A large central entrance foyer off the Lawn.
•
Two major classrooms for innovative interdisciplinary business
courses and programs offered to all U.Va. students, particularly
those in the Commerce School and in the College.
•
The Undergraduate Program Suite and the Commerce Career Services
Suite.
•
A state-of-the-art faculty seminar room for faculty and professional
presentations.
The
new building behind Rouss will feature:
•
A large student commons that will blend the lower level of
Rouss Hall with the new construction. The commons will include
several technology centers, a student lounge, group study
and meeting rooms, and a dining area.
•
An internal courtyard on the upper level that will be almost
twice the size of the Monroe Hall courtyard and surrounded
by the student commons and faculty offices.
•
An entrance to the Academical Village and the Lawn from the
southern and eastern parts of Central Grounds through the
front of the new building on Hospital Drive.
•
At least 10 high-tech classrooms seating roughly 30 to 60
students.
•
Three large classrooms seating approximately 80, 110 and 150
students.
•
The Graduate Programs Office, External Affairs Suite and faculty
offices.
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Two
classrooms in Rouss Hall will be shared with the College of Arts
& Sciences as a primary location for various collaborative programs.
The College will expand into 67,000-square-foot Monroe Hall, McIntire’s
home for the past 27 years.
Hartman-Cox
Architects of Washington, D.C., will design the entire Commerce
academic complex. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring
of 2004 and be completed in 2006.
The
new complex will enable McIntire and the College to create interdisciplinary
courses and to collaborate on other programs. A $500,000 gift from
John Griffin, founder and president of Blue Ridge Capital and a
McIntire alumnus, is funding faculty efforts to develop several
interdisciplinary initiatives.
"The
increased integration of the McIntire School into the University
community is a win-win proposition," Griffin said. "Only
good things can come from College and Commerce students and faculty
learning from each other."
University
President John T.
Casteen III praised the plans for the new building and the collaboration.
"The plan will allow the College and the Commerce School to
strengthen the academic and programmatic links between them and
to better serve their undergraduate and graduate students,"
he said. "I applaud the vision of our deans, Carl Zeithaml
and Ed Ayers, to create this exciting new model of education."
Zeithaml,
dean of McIntire, said, "On the outside, the Rouss Hall of
the past 100 years will look virtually the same, but the inside
will be a building for the 21st century."
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