Update on Major Building Projects
The following is the text of an e-mail message that was sent to faculty, students, and staff on July 17, 2008.
To: University Community
From: Robert J. Zimmer
Date: July 17, 2008
Re: Update on Major Building Projects
At the most recent Board of Trustees meeting, the Board approved next steps for four major building projects that have been under discussion for some time. I write to update you on these developments and the status of other facilities projects that have been recently approved by the Board. For a number of these projects, further approvals will be necessary as the projects proceed. Other major facilities projects are in various stages of planning or consideration, but this memo addresses only those that are significantly advanced in the Board approval process. These approvals are part of a larger, ambitious set of investments in our academic programs that provides multi-faceted increased support for our faculty and students in fulfilling our fundamental missions of research and education, as well as enabling better care for patients in our Medical Center.
Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts: The David Logan Arts Center will be a venue for artistic expression and multi-disciplinary inquiry, production, and performance for our faculty and students. To be located on 60th Street between Ingleside and Drexel Avenues, the new facility will house all or parts of four University programs: Visual Arts, Music, Theater and Performance Studies, and Cinema and Media Studies. It will feature a 450-seat performance space, as well as additional spaces for performance, exhibition, rehearsal, classrooms, and studios. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects are developing plans for the David Logan Arts Center, which is named in honor of David and Reva Logan and their family in recognition of their recent gift of $35 million to the University. Construction is expected to be completed in 2011.
Joe and Rika Mansueto Library: Groundbreaking for the new Mansueto Library will take place in the fall. The Helmut Jahn-designed library, to be constructed immediately to the west of Regenstein Library, will have the capacity to house 3.5 million volumes of print material in high-density space, and will provide a new preservation facility for rare materials and additional user space for faculty and students. The construction of the new building will allow the University to keep the Library’s entire collection on campus. Earlier this year, Joe and Rika Mansueto made a gift of $25 million to the University of Chicago. In recognition of their generosity, the University will name the new library for the Mansuetos. It will be completed by the end of 2010.
Harper Memorial Library: The historic reading rooms in Harper Library and Stuart Hall will be renovated and restored in order to create a new, 24-hour study space for our students. Improvements in technology, lighting, and furniture will be incorporated while the beauty and historic character of these spaces are restored and preserved. The Harper reading room will be designed for individual study and Stuart for group study. A small café will be added to join the two reading rooms. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2010.
Center for Physical and Computational Sciences: The architecture firm HOK has been selected to design the new Center for Physical and Computational Sciences on the west side of Ellis Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. This project will involve a total renovation and expansion of the current Research Institutes building, as well as a new building on the site of the Accelerator Building. The project will entail razing not only the Accelerator Building, but also the High Energy Physics Building, the Astronomy and Astrophysics Center, and the Low Temperature Laboratory, all facilities that have outlived their useful life. The two buildings will be designed to have a seamless interface and will together provide space for the departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Computer Science, as well as for the Kavli Institute, Computation Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, and a portion of the James Franck Institute. The Research Institutes building will be renamed the William Eckhardt Research Institutes building in recognition of a $20 million gift by Mr. Eckhardt to the University to benefit the Physical Sciences Division. Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2013.
Harris School Facility: The Harris School will occupy a new home on the Midway in order to provide improved classroom, office, and student space and to accommodate its expanding activities in public policy studies. The final site selection is expected by August 2008, and an architect selection committee has been appointed. A majority of the cost of the facility will be supported through fundraising. To date, about $14 million has been committed, anchored by a $5 million gift from the Harris Family Foundation.
Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery: Construction is entering its final phase for the Knapp Center, a 330,000-square-foot, 10-story building that will provide a new home for translational research programs in medicine, pediatrics, cancer, genomics, systems biology, and related fields. In addition to the research spaces, it will feature conference and lecture halls as well as public and common spaces. This project was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership of Los Angeles and is named in honor of Jules and Gwen Knapp, who made a $25 million gift to the University. Located on the east side of Drexel Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets, the Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery will be completed by March 2009.
New Hospital Pavilion: Architect Rafael Viñoly (who designed the GSB’s Harper Center) has designed the 1.2 million-square-foot New Hospital Pavilion, which on its completion in 2012 will become the core of the Medical Center campus. The building will be constructed on the south side of 57th Street, stretching from Cottage Grove to Drexel. Connecting on its south to both the Comer Children’s Hospital and the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, the new hospital will provide an optimal facility for patient care and collaborative clinical research. The Pavilion will house the Medical Center’s clinical programs that involve complex specialty care, with a focus on cancer, gastrointestinal disease, neuroscience, advanced surgery, and high-technology medical imaging. This will be the largest building project ever undertaken by the University, and will be financed entirely by clinical revenues and philanthropy in the Medical Center.
Laboratory Schools: The Lab Schools will undertake a major expansion and remodeling program intended to improve education for all students from nursery school through 12th grade. We will now begin architect selection for the project, which will expand classroom and library space and provide new and reorganized facilities for student and faculty resource services and for art, music, and theater. In addition, a new building will be developed for early childhood education. The expansion and renovation will allow for controlled growth in enrollment, increasing the Lab Schools’ capacity to serve children of faculty and staff as well as community members. The project will include a new facility to be named in recognition of a $10 million gift from the Earl Shapiro family. To date, donors have committed more than $23 million in support of the Lab Schools, anchored by the Shapiro gift.
New Residence Hall and Dining Facility: The new residence hall, located at 61st Street and Ellis Avenue just south of Burton-Judson and designed by Goody Clancy, will be open for College student residents in Fall 2009. It will include 811 residence hall beds as well as a new, 542-seat dining facility and food court which will also serve Burton-Judson students, and a convenience store. The residence hall portion will encompass a variety of room configurations for undergraduate students ranging from single rooms to suites. It will replace the student residences currently at the Shoreland and will further expand our capacity to house undergraduate students.