The University has submitted a budget amendment proposal to the General Assembly requesting funding to repair the dome roof of the Rotunda.
The entire renovation project will cost $50.6 million and is expected to be completed by 2016. Administrators hope to receive $26.8 million of the necessary funding from the state and the rest from private donations. The request has been included both in the Senate amendments and the state six-year plan of the House of Representatives.
"We are very optimistic that the funding will be made available by the state, and that will give us a good case to put before donors in order to raise the balance of the funds," said Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget.
The building, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a number of structural problems.
"The pressing issues with the Rotunda are the roof, which is leaking and is quite wet underneath the middle roof, [as well as] the column capitals, which are the ornamental pieces at the top of the columns," said Brian Hogg, senior preservation planner at the Office of the University Architect. Hogg also cited repairs to the cornices, brick walls, portico roofs and Rotunda elevator as priorities for the renovation.
The Rotunda Renovation report released by the Office of the Vice President of Management and Budget indicated the entire renovation is scheduled to occur during a five-year period. Hogg also said it was not clear whether the building will close at all or intermittently during this time.
Parts of the Rotunda may remain open, as renovations will occur in two phases.
The initial phase, which is expected to cost approximately $22.95 million, will address "work which threatens the integrity of the building," by fixing the dome roof and the marble Corinthian capitals, as well as several cosmetic repairs, according to the report.
The second phase, slated to cost approximately $27.69 million, will "complete repairs to the building envelope to ensure its long-term preservation and will address landscape and program issues," the report said. This stage of the renovation focuses on the immediate surroundings of the Rotunda, including the rejuvenation of the east and west courtyards.
The Rotunda is now used as a space for dissertation defenses, meetings, lunches, ceremonies and dinners. Rotunda Administrator Leslie Comstock said the Rotunda hosts more than 700 events and 125,000 visitors in a single year.
Hogg said the restoration of the Rotunda will ensure that it continues to be integral to life at the University. He said the project aims to change the way the building is used.
After the renovation, students will be able to use the Rotunda as a "place to study and possibly even for classes, so that it can become a bigger part of [their] daily lives," he said.
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