Richmond moves forward with four major campus
construction projects.
Work has begun on three campus construction projects: Westhampton Center, the expansion of First Market Stadium, and the Carole Weinstein International Center. Construction is scheduled to start this summer on Queally Hall, a major addition to the Robins School of Business. The projects represent 100,000 square feet of new construction and an 8,700-seat stadium, a combined investment of more than $70 million.
“The simultaneous construction of these projects, made possible by generous philanthropy, reflects the remarkable momentum of the University,” says President Edward Ayers. “These projects help to ensure ongoing excellence in the areas for which we are already known: undergraduate education, athletics, and student life—as well as first-rate facilities and a beautiful campus. The projects also fit perfectly with the aspirations of The Richmond Promise and will give us the kind of teaching, learning, and social spaces that will enable us to achieve important goals of the strategic plan.”
Several factors make this an ideal time to be building, says Herb Peterson, B’64, the University’s vice president for business and finance/treasurer. The factors include “the philanthropy that supports these projects, the favorable rates on new debt, the availability of excellent contractors and subcontractors, and costs of materials in the current economic climate. The fact that we are creating construction jobs in difficult economic times is a bonus as well.”
John Hoogakker, associate vice president for facilities, who is overseeing the projects, agrees. “We have the very best contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, and we are fortunate to have the capacity to undertake this ambitious array of projects.”
All of the new structures will reflect UR’s Collegiate Gothic architectural tradition, though each project will feature distinguishing characteristics, such as Queally Hall’s commanding round tower. All will be certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
“A building must be effective and inspirational,” Hoogakker says. “To those, we’ve added a third imperative: It must be constructed in an environmentally sustainable manner.”
Westhampton Center
Westhampton Center, which includes the Deanery and an adjacent building under construction, will serve as a hub for campus activities while carrying forward the history and heritage of Westhampton College. It will connect the past and the future, says Dr. Juliette Landphair, dean of Westhampton College.
Westhampton Center
“We have seen wonderful support from alumnae for this project that sustains and strengthens Westhampton’s traditions, gender-based educational and leadership opportunities, residential community, and mentoring programs,” Landphair says.
For many years, Westhampton College maintained its own faculty, housing, and governance on the south side of the lake. When Westhampton’s academic programs were integrated with those of Richmond College in the 1970s, UR took a different approach from other institutions with coordinate colleges that merged during the second half of the 20th century.
“We decided to preserve the colleges in the co-curricular lives of students,” Landphair says. “We recognized there were ways in which we could build upon this focus on women, which is the heart and soul of Westhampton.”
Westhampton Center will be in the middle of those efforts. The new, 6,000-square-foot building will feature a large living room that will serve as a place for students to study and socialize. It also will maintain the residential feel of the Deanery, which was built as a home for Westhampton’s first dean, Dr. May Keller.
The Deanery already is a gathering spot for students, but it is small, and on most days it closes before dinner. Westhampton Center’s new building will stay open late, fitting more comfortably into students’ schedules. The living room will include display space for Westhampton artifacts and memorabilia, and it will host meetings of student and alumnae organizations. The second floor will house the Women Involved in Living and Learning (WILL) program and a range of new programs and resources for female students.
The building will cost $3 million, which is part of a $10 million project to provide new programs and opportunities for Westhampton women. About half of that amount has been raised, including a significant grant from the Robins Foundation and gifts from more than 200 Westhampton alumnae and students. Construction is scheduled for completion by November.
“Westhampton Center symbolizes the ongoing importance of women’s education at the University of Richmond and nationally,” Landphair says. “It’s about where Westhampton should be going into the 21st century. Anyone who comes to campus sees how our women students flourish, and I think a lot of that has to do with the legacy of our predecessors.”
To learn more about Westhampton Center and Westhampton College, visit wc.richmond.edu.
First Market Stadium
When the expansion of First Market Stadium is complete in the fall of 2010, the University community will enjoy football on campus for the first time since the 1920s.
UR’s soccer, lacrosse, and track and field teams also will compete in the new stadium, and it will host community events, such as the Virginia Special Olympics. But the stadium’s biggest impact will be on Richmond’s national championship football team.
“The game day atmosphere will be so much better,” says Jim Miller, director of athletics. The team has played in University of Richmond Stadium (formerly City Stadium) four miles from campus since 1929. Bringing football back to campus will enhance the student experience and attract more alumni to games. “For our size institution, playing FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) football, we will fill that stadium with 8,700 people, and it will be really exciting,” Miller says. “You can come back and bring your family and show your children and grandchildren where you went to school and enjoy the tailgating and the excitement.”
First Market Stadium
Likewise, Miller expects students will be energized by football games that are truly home games. “They can walk right over from their dorm rooms and fraternity houses,” he says. “We think the students will really come out.” In recent seasons, student attendance has averaged 1,000—about one-third of UR’s traditional undergraduates. In the new stadium, the athletics department expects to reserve at least 1,700 seats for students.
The stadium will feature grandstands on both sides of the field and a facade with distinctive arches. “There aren’t a lot of gothic-inspired stadiums around,” Hoogakker notes. The stadium also will adhere to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. One environmental question was what to do with the old stadium debris. In the past, demolished concrete would have gone to a landfill, but the University has crushed and stockpiled the debris and plans to use it as the pad for a future building.
Fundraising for the $28 million stadium included a major gift from the Robins Foundation, a challenge grant from an anonymous donor, and a gift from Earl Dickinson Jr., R’75, to honor the memory of his father, Earl Dickinson Sr., R’48. The stadium’s playing surface will be called Dickinson Field.
For updates on the new stadium, visit richmondspiders.com and click on “Construction Zone.”
Carole Weinstein International Center
Building the Carole Weinstein International Center is “like pulling a flag to the top of the University of Richmond mast,” says Dr. Uliana Gabara, dean of the Office of International Education.
“Its symbolic meaning is almost as powerful as its physical presence,” says Gabara, who also holds the Carole M. Weinstein Chair of International Education.
Carole Weinstein International Center
The Carole Weinstein International Center will be situated between the Jepson School of Leadership Studies and Sarah Brunet Hall, which houses the admission office. “Anybody considering the University of Richmond will come for an orientation at the admission office, and the path will lead directly to the courtyard of the Carole Weinstein International Center,” Gabara says.
In a recent national study, more than 80 percent of high school students said they wanted to study abroad, Gabara notes. “That predisposition to see the world as truly interconnected will be visually and conceptually reinforced by demonstrating that we believe no undergraduate education is complete without a serious international component.”
The $20 million, 57,000-square-foot building, which is scheduled to open for the 2010 fall semester, is named in honor of former Trustee Carole Weinstein, W’75, G’77, H’04, a strong advocate of international education whose gift made the project possible. The structure will house several departments and interdisciplinary programs that focus on global issues as well as the Office of International Education, which coordinates the internationalization of the University, including study abroad, international students and scholars, international exchanges, and faculty international engagement.
Since the office was created in 1987, the international component of a UR education has increased dramatically. Fifty-eight percent of the graduating class of 2008 studied abroad, and 8 percent of UR’s undergraduates are international students.
The Carole Weinstein International Center will provide high-tech classrooms that will allow students and faculty to collaborate in real time with professors and students around the world. They also will gather to view displays of art, listen to live music, or enjoy a cup of coffee at the center’s café. The central feature of the building will be an open courtyard with a fountain surrounded by a cloistered walkway with spiral columns and balconies.
The project is being constructed to LEED standards, as are all campus buildings that carry the Weinstein name. Weinstein Hall, an academic building completed in 2003, was the first building on campus to earn LEED certification.
“Richmond has been recognized as the ‘hottest school in America for international studies’ by Newsweek,” Gabara notes. “The Carole Weinstein International Center embodies and enhances our strengths in international education and its centrality to the Richmond academic experience.”
To learn more about the Carole Weinstein International Center and international education at UR, visit international.richmond.edu.
Queally Hall
Queally Hall, a major addition to the Robins School of Business, will provide a new gateway to the University in more ways than one.
Queally Hall
Visitors arriving on campus via Campus Drive and Gateway Road will notice the building’s signature architectural feature, a grand round tower named in honor of former Robins School Dean David Robbins and funded by Bob Jepson, B’64, GB’75, H’87. Visitors to the Robins School will discover new spaces and programs that will nurture interaction—on and off campus—among students, faculty, business leaders, and the broader community.
Queally Hall is named in honor of Paul and Anne-Marie Queally, whose foundation made the lead gift toward the $19.4 million project. Former Trustee Paul Queally, R’86, is co-president of the investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. Anne-Marie Flinn Queally, W’86, worked as a marketing representative for IBM and as a budget and financial analyst for Morgan Guaranty Trust.
The University plans to begin building the new addition this summer with completion scheduled in time for the 2011 spring semester. The 37,000-square-foot facility will be built to LEED standards thanks in part to a donation from Richard Harrison, B’84, and his wife, Susan.
The new addition will house new programs focused on experiential learning. A finance lab will allow students to access extensive real-time data, and new video technology will facilitate long-distance dialogue between students and industry experts around the world.
“Queally Hall will be an outstanding resource that supports and strengthens our academic programming,” says Dr. Richard Coughlan, senior associate dean of the Robins School. “We are already recognized as being among the best in the country for undergraduate business education generally and teaching quality and facilities in particular. This addition will help ensure that these qualities remain hallmarks of the Robins School for a new generation of students.”
A new 225-seat auditorium, more than five times the size of any current meeting room in the Robins School, will make large public events more feasible, including the University’s annual international film series. A café will offer a light menu of food and a comfortable place for conversation. “It’s not only for students in business, but students in the law school and Jepson School as well as faculty and the business community,” Coughlan says. “The café is meant to get them talking to one another about issues of common interest.”
To learn more about Queally Hall and the Robins School of Business, visit
business.richmond.edu.
Bill Lohmann, R’79, is a writer and columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Follow the progress of the construction projects via webcams at construction.richmond.edu.
Send comments about this story to krhodes@richmond.edu.
