The Building and Grounds Committee of the Board of Visitors unanimously approved commencement of the South Lawn Project yesterday.
The projected cost of $100 million will be spent over three phases, University architect David Neuman said.
The first phase, slated to begin in 2007, will extend the Lawn across Jefferson Park Avenue and include new buildings for the History, Politics and Religion departments.
This phase is projected to cost $65 million, Neuman said.
Phase II will allow an additional building to be added without tearing down any of the nearby apartment buildings owned by the University.
Phase III will "engage" New Cabell Hall with the South Lawn by building a new entryway into New Cabell Hall on the third story.
Upon completion, the 100-feet wide space will include gardens, a conservatory, a café and lounges for students, in addition to academic space. A small fountain will also be central to a circular plaza with an overlook that offers a view of the ridgeline that leads to Monticello, Neuman added.
"We want to design a building that not only looks and functions well on its opening but [that], on its 100th anniversary, people will say we all did a good job," Neuman said.
College Dean Ed Ayers spoke to the Committee before they voted.
Ayers urged committee members to approve the project "if we're going to make a bold step in the 21st century that acknowledges our past."
Ayers also said $30 million has been donated to the project thus far and that students were the first to donate to the project in 2002 when the Arts and Sciences Council gave $5,000.
In designing the buildings, "we tried to decipher what Mr. Jefferson was doing," Neuman said. "We can create something that the vast majority will agree was a tribute to the Academical Village and the creativity of the design team and a tribute to those who put their fingerprints on this project."
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