Decisions about changes to the University of Virginia’s built environment are made by the Board of Visitors with initial decisions and recommendations made by the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
The agenda for the panel’s December 4 meeting was light, but at least one action was taken. The group agreed to recommend adding an item to UVA’s Major Capital Plan to cover the cost of repairs to a portion of the University of Virginia Medical Center. The three-story Steele Wing is over a hundred years old and part of the West Complex.
“Last April, the chilled water piping sprung a leak on the top floor which resulted in serious flooding,” said Lois Stanley, Senior Vice President for Operations at the University of Virginia. “Imagine 1000 gallons of water a minute.”
Two clinical departments and a pediatrics division were displaced to temporary space and will come back after repairs. The preliminary cost estimate to do so is between $25 million and $30 million and that includes taking a fresh look at the space.
“The scope is expected to include needed upgrades required by the building code and related to very old building systems,” Stanley said. “Because it’ll be a gut renovation, it’s also a great opportunity to consider the floor plan for more flexibility and efficiency in space use in the future.”
The item will come back to the Board of Visitors in March.
At the meeting, committee Chair John Nau had an update on the future University Avenue Park that is being planned for the space where a statue of General George Rogers Clark stood for a hundred years before being removed in 2021.
“The staff faculty have worked with Monacan and other Native American tribes to work on creating a good park down there,” Nau said. “We have a lot of work to do. A number of trees need to be removed, number of trees need to be placed. And we’ve got to figure out what to do with an overhead power line.”
The day before the meeting, Nau toured the energy plant that is under construction to support expansion of the Fontaine Research Park to include the Paul and Dianne Manning Institute of Biotechnology.
“I mean you can’t just call it a power plant,” Nau said. “I mean it is amazing.”
The plant will generate energy for the Fontaine Research Park through implementation of advanced technology without using fossil fuels. That includes geothermal energy with around a hundred wells dug 800 feet into the ground.
“Needless to say, they instructed us to keep our hands off of everything,” Nau said.
In September, the Board of Visitors authorized the schematic design for the Center for the Arts to be constructed in the Emmet / Ivy precinct between Central Grounds and North Grounds.
According a preview I wrote for that meeting, the new facility will house the Fralin Museum, the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, the College of Arts and Sciences music department, and a 1,200 seat performing arts venue.
The $315 million project will depend on funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia but UVA has spent money to advance the design.
The committee did not discuss the Center at the December meeting, but there was a write-up in the meeting packet.
“With additional funding authorization, the team is actively engaging with user groups and stakeholders to develop details for the design documents,” reads the report . “Active engagement continues with students, key UVA departments, including Safety and Security, Accessibility, the Office of Sustainability, and the University Building Officials.”
The meeting packet also had information about a proposed support building to provide permanent bathrooms at Lannigan Field. The $2 million project is currently in design.
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