More construction underway on Monroe Park Campus
VCU is set to break ground on the West Grace Street North dorm in the next few weeks
The West Grace Street South dorms are scheduled to open by Aug. 1.
Mark Robinson
Assistant News Editor
With the West Grace Street South residence hall nearing completion, VCU is set to break ground on the West Grace Street North dorm in the next few weeks.
The design, construction and cost for the dorm were approved by the board of visitors last week. The project will add an additional 379 beds for on-campus housing and have a global education focus on the first floor, Brian Ohlinger, assistant director of Facilities Management, said.
Like West Grace Street South, West Grace Street North is a design-build, which means a contractor and an architect are hired as a team by the university to save money. The new project will have a different contractor than West Grace Street South, Ohlinger said.
West Grace Street South is expected to be finished in July and be ready for occupancy by Aug. 1, Ohlinger said. The 162,000-square-foot apartment-style dorm for sophomores will host the ASPiRE program and could be expanded in the future.
“We’ve designed the current buildings in a way that would allow us to expand should we ever acquire the Sahara restaurant,” Ohlinger said. “We’ve thought about the future, and if we do (acquire it), we can add on to either the deck or the housing.”
The university was not willing to pay what Ohlinger called a “ridiculous amount” of money to buy the property prior to the building of West Grace Street South and the Laurel Street Parking Deck. It would have been “irresponsible” to buy it at the owner’s asking price, he said.
After West Grace Street South is completed, the 300 block of Shafer Street will reopen, and half of the 200 block will be closed until West Grace Street North is completed, Ohlinger said. Both the alley by Barnes and Noble and the parking garage entrance will still be accessible.
Across campus, the growing steel skeleton of the University Learning Center looms over Floyd and Linden streets.
The first floor of the academic building will be the site of the largest lecture hall on campus, designed to seat 400 students. The second floor will have a number of smaller lecture halls that are designed for class sizes of 80 or more students, Ohlinger said.
The School of Social Work will move from the Raleigh Building to occupy the third floor. The top floor will be the Center for Teaching Excellence, which is a part of the University College. The University Learning Center is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2013, according to the Master Site Plan.
Associate vice provost and dean of students Reuban Rodriguez said the $44 million academic building will be equipped with the latest technology.
“A lot of in-class learning experiences are focused on or driven by technology,” Rodriguez said. “We’re making sure the new building has what’s needed and available to continue to enhance the classroom experience.”
Despite the construction site’s close proximity to Cabell Library and Harris Hall, Rodriguez and Ohlinger said there have not been any complaints about noise or pollution.
“With the erection of the steel, there really won’t be lots of noise … that’s really disruptive,” Ohlinger said. “There will always be some background noise going on, but it will be pretty minimal.”
Photos by Amber-Lynn Taber
