VCU to Break Ground for Third Dental School Building

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
Division of University Relations

Virginia Commonwealth University officials are set to break ground on a new, $20 million addition to the VCU School of Dentistry that will be named in honor of alumnus W. Baxter Perkinson, Jr.

The groundbreaking ceremonies will be held at noon on Friday, Oct. 26, at the School of Dentistry Wood and Lyons buildings, located on Leigh Street between 11^th and 12^th streets.

The four-story building will house research laboratories, classrooms, conference facilities, dental clinics and faculty offices. The 55,000 square-foot structure connects the existing School of Dentistry Wood and Lyons buildings.

The new building will increase the dentistry school's research capacity and allow enrollment to be expanded in the Doctor of Dentistry Surgery and Dental Hygiene programs.

Completion of the W. Baxter Perkinson, Jr. Building is projected for summer 2009.

The VCU School of Dentistry is Virginia's only dental school.