Higher Education

Texas Lutheran University in Seguin is developing a 30,000-sf complex to house the College of Professional studies. Serving the departments of education, business administration and kinesiology, the facility will include a large tiered classroom, a conference center, seminar rooms, smaller classrooms and conference rooms, and faculty offices. Technological features will include electronically controlled projection screens and high-speed Internet access.

The National Archives Building, built in 1935, is undergoing a $110-million renovation that will restore the facility's rotunda and install fiber-optic lighting systems and high-security vaults. Mechanical and electrical systems will be upgraded, and head space in the exhibit galleries will be created by the removal of several floors, shrinking the building's total space from 1.4-million sf to 900,000 sf.

The National Research Council (NRC) is planning the permanent home of the new National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) in Edmonton, Alberta. The $40-million facility will be created by a partnership between the Government of Canada through the NRC, the Government of Alberta, and the University of Alberta. The building will be built to a silver-level LEED certification as specified by the U.S.

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is seeking to raise a total of $33-million to fund the construction of a science and technology facility, a performing arts center, and a building housing computer labs, study areas, food facilities, and lounges.

Vincennes University has completed the design of the Red Skelton Museum and Performing Arts Center on the university's campus in Vincennes, Ind. Dedicated to the memory of Vincennes-born comedian Red Skelton, the 98,000-sf building will replace the university's 35-year old drama and music structure. The theater will seat 800 and will include several balconies. Academic spaces will house instrumental and choral rehearsal rooms, an acting lab, scene and costume construction labs, dressing rooms, and faculty offices.

The University of Cincinnati will begin construction in April on Varsity Village. Funded by a $10.2-million gift, the project will house competition and training facilities for UC's 18 varsity sports. Highlights of the Richard E. Lindner Varsity Village include a new 3,000-seat baseball stadium, a tennis complex, a boat house, and a 50-meter competitive swimming pool. The track and soccer complex will also be renovated.

The University of Pittsburgh is creating the John A. Swanson Center for Micro and Nano Systems with a gift of $1.4-million from the center's namesake. The center will be housed in the recently established four-laboratory John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence, which will work in collaboration with the new center. The Center for Micro and Nano Systems will focus on applied research, giving companies and researchers access to technology, equipment and services for design, modeling and simulation, fabrication and systems integration.

The University of California, San Diego is planning to construct a new $50-million facility to house the Graduate Management School. The building is expected to open in autumn 2005.

Loomis Chaffee School has selected Boston-based William Rawn Associates Architects to design a new performing arts center and 18-classroom building in Windsor, Conn. The final design will be completed by year-end 2003 with construction slated to begin in 2004. The project is part of a $150-million campus initiative focused on theater, music, and dance programs.

Elon University is planning to construct the $12-million Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center on its Elon, N.C. campus. The three-story facility, slated to open in 2005, will house classrooms, a trading room, a digital multimedia theater, the school's MBA program, and the Elon Enterprise Academy.

North Carolina State University has broken ground on a $35-million, 100,000-sf research facility, the first structure of the Centennial Biomedical Campus at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

UC Berkeley began construction in March 2003 on the new $162.3-million Stanley Hall. Part of the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3), the facility will provide 275,000 sf on eight floors above ground and three floors below ground. Replacing the existing Stanley Hall, the interdisciplinary facility will not belong to a single department but instead will bring together biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, and engineering researchers.

George Washington University is using $5-million in federal funds to create READI, the Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute on its satellite campus in Loudoun County. The institute will train between 10,000 and 20,000 first responders annually, teaching firefighters, emergency management personnel, health care providers and law enforcement officers to respond in the event of a terrorist attack. Occupying up to half of the 100,000-sf former Psinet building, the center is expected to be operational in summer of 2003.

University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and research firm The Institute for Genomics Research  recently completed the creation of MdBioLab, a mobile bioscience lab designed for education at Maryland high schools. The facility contains lab and communications equipment and databases.

John F. Kennedy University is acquiring the 100,000-sf former Bank of America complex in Pleasant Hill, Calif., for its permanent campus location. The facility will house classrooms, administrative offices, and libraries for the university's five schools. The private accredited university plans to move to the new site in January 2004 and will continue to operate its Berkeley and Campbell campuses.