With the demolition of the Cunningham Residence Halls, the renovations to Stubbs Hall, the construction of an Alumni Center and current plans for a new residence hall, as well as a new academic building, there is a lot to expect for Longwood University in the next few years with the VIsion 2020 Comprehensive Campus Master Plan.
The purpose of the Campus Master Plan details the goals and changes that will be made to Longwood University for the following seven years with changes to the university’s physical space, facility needs and infrastructure.
The goals and planning assumptions for the Campus Master Plan include growing the undergraduate student population to 5,600, for 60 percent of all students to be housed in university-controlled housing and for sustainability to be an integral aspect to campus planning, design and operations. The Campus Master Plan was originally created Sept. 12, 2008 by the team of Vice President for Facilities Management Richard Bratcher, Campus Master Plan Coordinator and Facilities Planner for Capital Planning and Construction Jerry Jerome, Campus Master Plan Assistant Coordinator and Sustainability Coordinator for Real Property Management Kelly Martin and Moseley Architects of Virginia Beach.
The only change to the original Campus Master Plan was on March 30, 2012 when the Board of Visitors approved building the Alumni Center in the ground floor of Blackwell Hall as opposed to at the Tudor Home on High Street.
Jerome said that the reason for this change was that the space was not big enough and that the staff members in the Office of Alumni Relations would prefer to remain located on campus.
The construction of the Alumni Center will begin this winter. Jerome hopes for the construction to be complete by the end of spring 2014. Martin said that, since Blackwell Hall used to be used as a dining hall for Longwood students, for the Office of Alumni Relations to be moved there, it will be “like walking back in time.”
For the 2013-2014 academic school year, Jerome stated that nothing new will start or should be expected to change.
Concerning the plans for the construction of a new residence hall, Jerome said that he is unsure if the design phase for it will begin due to the focus on funding. He commented that a new architect has yet to be hired or advertised for the project.
The preferred location for the new residence hall is the green lawn in between ARC Residence Hall and Race Street, but Jerome said, “I can’t say for sure that it will be [located there].”
The Student Success Center is currently in preliminary planning with an estimated date of construction being summer 2015.
According to the Campus Master Plan, the Student Success Center will be approximately 26,000 gross square feet and will house Student Accounts, Parking Services, Registration, Financial Aid, Housing, Telecommunications, IT Help Desk, the Academic & Career Advising Center, Learning Center, Student Athletic Support Services, the Office of Disability Services, Longwood Seminar and the Office of First Year Experience & Family Programs.
Facilities Management is currently in its stages for hiring an architect for a new academic building that is being planned. The academic building is set to be built behind French Hall on top of where the tennis courts were located.
Jerome said that there is still no knowledge as to which departments or facilities would be moved into the new academic building, and was unable to say when planning or construction would begin for the project.
Jerome described the new academic building by saying it would look similar to Grainger Hall in that it would include faculty offices and classrooms. The academic building is planned to have four floors, as well as be “multi-purpose and flexible,” according to Jerome.
With the construction of the new academic building, Jerome said that other departments may move into Grainger Hall.
Jerome said, “The academic buildings around campus – the art building, the music building, the communication studies building, the science building, the business building, the IT building – all of these things are pretty specific, and we hope that this building will be able to be used by many different academic disciplines and organizations because it’s getting more and more difficult to get money to build educational facilities.”
With the new academic building, the hope is for multiple academic disciplines and programs to be able to utilize its resources.
Facilities Management is still in the process of the preliminary phase for the project and has yet to hire the architect for the project.
The general funds for the project are appropriated from the Virginia General Assembly. On the renovations to French Hall, Jerome said completion is expected to be in the early spring semester of 2014. French Hall will house the
Information Technology Services Department, the WMLU student-run radio station, as well as selected aspects of the Communication Studies Department and the Theatre program.
Renovations to Stubbs Hall are expected to be completed summer 2014 and will be open for the 2014-2015 academic year, according to Jerome.
Martin said that renovations to Stubbs Hall include the installation of air conditioning, new finishing, new lights, new bathrooms as well as new safety equipment and fire alarms.
During the planning for Stubbs Hall, there was a focus on safely moving out and storing valuables within the chapter rooms. The valuables will be moved back into the respective chapter rooms once the construction is completed.
Associate Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life Wolfgang Acevedo said that the nine sororities previously located in Stubbs Hall were relocated into the Cunningham Residence Halls.
The nine sororities include Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Zeta, Zeta Tau Alpha, Kappa Delta, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Sigma Kappa, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Alpha Delta Pi. The sisters of the National Pan- Hellenic Council sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., do not live in Stubbs Hall, but do have a chapter room within Stubbs Hall, according to Acevedo.
According to the Residential & Commuter Life (RCL) webpage on the Longwood University website, the total occupancy for Stubbs Hall is 184.
The Theta Chi Fraternity chapter room currently located within the Cunningham Residence Halls will be demolished along with the residence hall’s demolishment. Afterwards, Theta Chi will have no chapter room on campus. There are currently 60 brothers in Theta Chi fraternity, according to Acevedo.
Once Stubbs Hall finishes construction and reopens, Acevedo said that the residence hall will include a space that will highlight Longwood University’s Greek history, including its founding of four alpha chapters: Sigma Sigma Sigma, Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Kappa Delta.
The grand opening for this space will be September 2014 and will include the alumni from the four alpha chapters at the event, according to Acevedo.
“I think as the university grows, we need to look at supporting our fraternities and sororities just to be connected to the university,” Acevedo said.
Associate Director of Residential Operations for Residential & Commuter Life Doug Howell said that there are currently 165 occupants in South Cunningham Hall, 92 occupants in Main Cunningham Hall and 114 occupants in North Cunningham Hall. The Cunningham Residence Halls are currently occupying eight male students, some staff members, international students, freshman, upperclassmen, transfer students and sorority sisters relocated from Stubbs Hall.
Jerome said that during the 2014 summer, RCL will move the furniture out of the Cunningham Residence Halls. Facilities Management will then move out hazardous materials, including lead and asbestos.
Jerome expects the demolition process of the Cunningham Residence Halls to begin late in the 2014 summer.
Other changes to expect for the 2014 summer include the complete replacement of Willett Hall’s air conditioning. The project will be done in phases and is expected to be complete by fall 2015. The main gym in Willett Hall will be open to the public by the start of the basketball season during the fall 2014 semester.
For the 2014-2015 academic school year, Jerome believes the installation for a third boiler in the heating plant will begin. He commented that this project is still in early planning.
Concerning future construction plans, Martin said, “There are a lot of changes on campus that will be coming up in the next couple of years like building maintenance and stuff, but not anything major.”
On the Campus Master Plan, Jerome said, “This is still going strong.”
