Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) said Wednesday he soon will decide whether to secure funding for the University's proposed special collections library.
Gilmore met with University President John T. Casteen III in Alderman Library to discuss the University's academic future as well as its priority construction projects.
Funding for several University construction projects, including the $10 million special collections library, was suspended in February after the General Assembly failed to finalize a state budget.
Casteen said the special collections library tops the list of priorities because much of its planning and construction already has progressed. He noted the recent completion of Peabody Hall renovations, one component of the larger project.
The project "has already progressed a good ways, but as it hangs in the state's system, the cost of finishing it is beginning to grow," Casteen said.
Earlier in the week Gilmore restored funding for spending projects at Radford University and George Mason University.
He said he would continue to "re-evaluate construction projects on various college campuses in the Commonwealth" and will "hopefully be in a position to make a decision in the next four to five days."
If he does indeed allocate funding for the project, construction would begin in March 2002 and last for an estimated two years, library budget director Jeanne M. Hammer said.
The library would be built next to Alderman Library, and the project would require the demolition of Miller Hall.
Gilmore, a 1971 University graduate, said he remembers studying in the current special collections library as a student. He added he would like the library to remain a well-known national center for original documents.
The Princeton Review, in its annual list of the nation's "Best 311 Colleges," ranked the University's library system as number one in the nation.
Lynda Clendenning, director of Alderman Library's Harrison Institute, said the proposed building would allow for great expansion and enhancement of the special collections volumes.
"This will be a center for humanities and social science research as well as a public arena for sharing our rich historical resources with the public and the University community," Clendenning said.
The building, named the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature and Culture, would house several research institutes and exhibit galleries, in addition to the special collections library.
If Gilmore does not grant funding now, Hammer said construction would be suspended until July 2002, when the next General Assembly budget might provide necessary funds.
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