Buildings and Grounds panel to review new design for UVA Center of Arts

When the Buildings and Ground Committee meets on the afternoon of September 11, a main item on the agenda is another look at the proposed Center for Arts in the Emmet / Ivy Corridor.

“The five-story, 210,000 [gross square foot Center for the Arts will include the 1,200-seat Richard and Tessa Ader Performing Arts Center, co-locate the holdings and programs of UVA’s Fralin Museum and Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, and provide a home for the College of Arts and Sciences’ music department,” reads the staff report.

The panel previously approved the location in June 2021 and added it to the Major Capital Plan. The committee granted the design concept in June 2024 and reviewed the schematic design in December 2024.

At that time, Buildings and Grounds Chair John Nau expressed concern about the scope of the $315 million project. He repeated these in March.

• UVA unveils preliminary design for new Center for the Arts, C-Ville Weekly, December 14, 2025
• Nau continues to express concern about scope of proposed Center for the Arts, March 11, 2025

The project’s future depends on the ability of UVA to secure state funding. UVA asked for $215 million in the 2025 General Assembly session and that amount had originally been included in a capital pool for higher education projects.

“Given the uncertainty around the financial impact of federal actions on the Commonwealth, the entire higher education capital pool was removed from the final budget,” reads the staff report.

UVA will ask for the funding again in the next session but in the meantime are seeking approval for an additional $5 million in available philanthropic funds to refine the design.

“To date, planning and design work has been supported by a significant philanthropic cash gift of $50M, which has enabled the University to continue the Schematic Design phase and to refine the designs based on previous feedback from the Board,” reads the staff report.

According to a presentation in the meeting packet, the idea to consolidate several UVA arts departments in one building dates back to 2018 when both the McIntire Department of Music and arts museums studied future space needs. In 2019, the Emmet Ivy Task Force convened by former UVA President Jim Ryan suggested they could all be located in the new UVA precinct.

If state is funding, construction could begin in 2026 and be complete by 2029.

The committee will also review the design guidelines and location for a second building to support the School of Data Science.

“The addition of the new School of Data Science and Entrepreneurship Building is envisioned to create a new interdisciplinary computational research environment within a state-of-the-art facility,” reads the staff report.

The project was added to UVA’s Major Capital Plan in June 2025.

Another project up for schematic design approval is a $72 million data center to be built at the Fontaine Research Park. The UVA Finance Committee were briefed on its need in March.

This will also be the first meeting for Lois Stanley, the new senior vice president for operations. In July, Stanley was named Colette Sheehy’s replacement. Learn more about Stanley from the staff report.

Other items on the meeting agenda:

• The former Federal Executive Institute is to be known as Sycamore Hill. (learn more)
• The group will be asked to sanction the demolition of Cochran House, a 20th century structure on Ivy Mountain behind the University of Virginia Musculoskeletal Center. No replacement is expected at this time. (learn more)
• University Hall was demolished in 2019 and part of the approval from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources required a commemorative plaque to be installed. The committee will be asked to approve it. (learn more)
• While not mentioned in the staff report, the presentation has information about the potential transfer of Oak Lawn to the University of Virginia. Read about that in this story.

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