Plans for new classroom building now underway

Planning for a single new classroom building to be completed in 2009 to replace Arjona and Monteith has begun in earnest.

Addressing the Capital Projects Planning Advisory Committee last week, Jim Bradley, interim executive director of Architectural and Engineering Services, said the new 189,000 square-foot building will be located between Homer Babbidge Library and Hawley Armory, on the site of the former UConn Co-op.

The new building will house the departments of Journalism, Modern and Classical Languages, Political Science, Economics, Linguistics, and Communications Sciences.

Several options for the new building are under consideration, Bradley said.

The building could be "L" shaped or have a tower on one end, or it could be a more traditional rectangular shape, the least expensive option and the one that takes up the least amount of land.

The decision on the building's shape and on its exact location within the site will be made by the Buildings and Grounds Committee, which will consider information from the Classroom Committee, the Registrar, and the six departments to be located in the building.

The committee will also consider whether the building should be three or four stories high, and will review studies of traffic patterns, access, and parking that are currently underway, Bradley said.

Three building options were presented at the meeting. They were shown in the three-dimensional context of adjacent buildings and the larger neighborhood, using photographs of scale models.

In response to concerns raised at the meeting by Rob Henning, associate professor of psychology, Bradley said the design team will meet with the department to discuss concerns involving traffic and parking, as well as the impact of the proposed new building on the planned expansion of the psychology building.