Two new buildings planned to replace Arjona, Monteith

UConn officials have decided to replace the aging Arjona and Monteith buildings with two structures fronting Fairfield Way, rather than one massive building at the former site of the UConn Co-op.

Following a series of deliberations during the summer with deans and department heads, the University’s master planner, architects, and others, the group decided that replacing the social sciences and humanities buildings with a single structure located between the Homer Babbidge Library and Hawley Armory was not feasible.

“By early summer, it became increasingly apparent that any affordable alternative plan regarding the new building and library access would result in compromises that no one was happy with,” says James Bradley, associate vice president for architectural and engineering services.

“It also became increasingly clear from a programming as well as a campus and especially a local neighborhood standpoint, that the proposed new building might simply be too big.”

The planning group had been discussing whether to replace the two buildings, both constructed in 1959, with two new buildings or a single, multi-story, 180,000-square-foot structure on the site of the former Co-op.

The proposal for a single building fell increasingly out of favor as discussions continued, because a building of that size would have crowded the Armory, the Bousfield Psychology Building, and the library.

That crowding, together with the building’s height, would have created a “canyon effect,” says Bradley.