VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
Division of University Relations

Phase I of Virginia Commonwealth University's largest construction project reaches a milestone on Monday, Jan. 14, when students attend classes for the first time in a 240,000 square-foot complex that houses Snead Hall, VCU's new School of Business, and East Hall, an expansion of VCU's School of Engineering.

Also opening on the new campus are the VCU Adcenter, the university's top-ranked graduate program in advertising, now located in the newly renovated historic Central Belting Building, and the 689-space Jefferson Street parking deck that exits directly onto the Downtown Expressway.

Media are invited to the new complex at 11 a.m., Monday, Jan. 14, in the Snead Hall Atrium, 301 W. Main St. VCU President Eugene P. Trani will be joined by the deans of the Schools of Business and Engineering and the managing director of the Adcenter for brief remarks. Afterward, media will be able to visit with students and tour the business and engineering complex and the VCU Adcenter.

Media who plan to attend are asked to contact University News Services at 828-1231 for parking information.

The new campus is located on an 11-acre tract adjacent to VCU's Monroe Park Campus, east of Belvidere between Main and Canal streets.

Trani has called the new campus transformational for both the university and the community. The business and engineering buildings are joined, sharing a student commons and other social and academic spaces. The idea to collocate the schools came from local business leaders who believed business and engineering students should be connected, just as they are in the workplace.

The new home for the VCU Adcenter – a historic 27,000 square-foot building – was designed by the internationally renowned architect Clive Wilkinson and is not a typical academic facility. The Adcenter combines the historic building with a modern addition that reflects the creative nature of the graduate program.  

The new campus is the result of a public-private partnership, which allowed the university's largest construction to be undertaken quickly – four years from idea to opening the first buildings. About half of the $157 million estimated cost of the first phase was funded through private donations.

The new facilities will allow the schools of business and engineering to enroll about 2,000 additional students.