Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. (Aug.
12, 2004) – The Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors today
approved a master site plan, dubbed VCU 2020, which lays out the vision
for VCU’s campuses for the next 15 years.
The plan includes
concepts for about $1 billion in new academic, medical, recreation,
student housing and parking facilities, primarily on VCU’s Monroe Park
and MCV Campuses. This mirrors VCU’s past 15 years in which nearly $1
billion in construction has either been completed, is underway or
authorized.
“VCU’s 2020 master
site plan incorporates all of the growth that has taken place at VCU and
the movement from a commuter campus to a residential campus of a major
research university,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D. “It
also builds on the unique relationship that VCU has with the city of
Richmond and the neighborhoods that surround our campuses.”
Since 1990, VCU’s
student enrollment has grown from 21,000 to more than 27,000 students
for the fall 2004 semester. The 2020 master site plan reflects a
30,000-student capacity and limited geographic growth because of the
landlocked nature of the two main campuses. Highlights include:
-
Monroe Park
Campus Addition – a $199 million project east of Belvidere between
Main and Canal Streets that will include a new School of Business,
the second phase of the School of Engineering, two residential
colleges, a renovation of the historic Central Belting building to
house VCU’s Adcenter, an executive conference center and underground
parking for 800 vehicles. The state has appropriated $25 million
towards the construction of the new School of Business and
Engineering buildings. The remaining $174 million – 87 percent of
the estimated construction cost – will be funded by private
donations and user support.
-
Critical Care
Bed Tower – a $110 million, state-of-the-art replacement facility
that will provide 300 critical care and isolation beds. It will be
built on the site of the old steam plant on 13th Street
at the VCU Medical Center. Once the critical care tower is
complete, the plan includes replacing North Hospital with a cancer
hospital as part of an expanded VCU Massey Cancer Center.
-
New School of
Nursing building – a $14.6 million Center for Nursing at 11th
and Leigh Streets will help alleviate the state’s critical nursing
shortage. Modern nursing education and research facilities will
allow VCU to double the number of nursing students and expand
research and clinical service. The General Obligation Bond approved
by voters in 2002 provides $11.6 million for the construction, and
private fundraising will provide the remaining $3 million of the
project cost.
-
New School of
Medicine building – a 500,000 square-foot project is anticipated to
be VCU’s highest priority for the next state bond bill. The new VCU
School of Medicine would replace the obsolete West Hospital and AD
Williams Clinic, providing modern classroom and laboratory
facilities commensurate with being one of the nation’s top medical
schools.
-
Grace Street
“area of interest” – a tract of land East of Belvidere bordered by
Grace Street and the alley between Grace and Franklin Streets. The
master site plan envisions a mix of university and private
development.
In all, the plan
includes concepts for more than 40 new facilities, about evenly split
between the two main campuses. “These are a big step to fortify the
health of the VCU academic medical center – Virginia’s most important
medical center – as well as the continued development of the Monroe Park
Campus,” Dr. Trani said.
The first phase of
the Monroe Park Campus Addition -- the new business school and
engineering buildings -- as well as the new nursing school building and
critical care bed tower on the medical campus, are anticipated to open
the fall of 2007. The remaining concepts of the long-range plan, yet to
be individually funded or authorized, would be built over the next 5 to
15 years.
More than 50
university, civic, city and neighborhood groups were briefed over the
past year as the master site plan was developed as a visionary document
that lays out the future growth of the university. VCU Rector Edward H.
Bersoff, Ph.D., said that process will continue over the life of the
plan.
“There is a lot of
time to consider the design of these proposed facilities and how they
will fit within historical and architectural context of their environs
and at the same time address the functional needs of the university in
addressing the growth in student enrollment, the growth in funded
research, and growth in the demand for state-of-the-art, specialized
medical care,” Bersoff said.
The master site plan
envisions a VCU in 2020 that will have taken its place as a major
research institution, according to Dr. Trani. “You’ll see a Virginia
Commonwealth University that is more integrated in the community but
with better facilities to compete at every level,” he said.
About VCU and VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 226 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-seven of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University comprise VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.