Faced with space crunches and expanding programs, the Education School has started planning for a new Education School building. Officials hope to complete the project in 2005 to mark the school's centennial.
The building would be adjoined to the existing Ruffner Hall, the only building the Education School now occupies. The structure would include an atrium and be located between Ruffner Hall and Emmet Street, above the nearby parking lot.
Education School officials have not yet hired an architect or presented plans to the Board of Visitors for approval.
But the Education School has received architectural plans for the building as part of a recent fundraising campaign.
The Education School now is conducting extensive fundraising efforts to finance the new venture.
Early estimates indicate the building would cost about $20 million. Education School officials hope to raise half the money through internal efforts. The Commonwealth may provide the other half.
To accelerate the funding process, the initiative needs a gift of several million dollars, Education School Dean David Breneman said.
We "need to find someone interested in making the big-leap gift," Breneman said.
Education School officials want to construct the new structure to meet "the building need [that] has been here for a decade," said Bob Pate, associate dean of administrative services at the Education School.
The Education School needs more space to accommodate increasing research support endeavors, Breneman said.
We are "bursting out of seams in our current building," he said.
Educations School officials also said they hope to provide "more state-of-the-art technology for students in [teacher education] programs," said Margaret Unsworth, executive director of the Curry School Foundation. The foundation is an organization that raises money for the Education School.
The Education School now sponsors programs and classes meeting in Memorial Gymnasium and Lambeth House to compensate for space limitations in Ruffner Hall.
The Education School also rents space at the Colony Plaza on Fontaine Avenue for its Communication Disorders Academic Program. Education faculty also conduct research in rented space at Republic Plaza on West Main Street.
"We have some unique space needs," Pate said. We want "our graduates to have experience in what we hope would be model ways to set up and organize classrooms."
He said a new building also would benefit faculty members, as they would be able to interact with each other in the same area.
Education School officials have been considering the idea of the new building for two or three years, Breneman said.
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