Radford University to construct new College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences building

Will be largest academic building at RU

During Tuesday’s meeting of the Radford University (RU) Board of Visitors, President Penelope W. Kyle announced that RU has received authorization from the state to commence construction on a planned 143,600 square-foot academic facility that will serve as the new home to the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences (CHBS).  The new building is projected to cost $52.8 million.

"This building is part of the master facilities plan that I have advocated on behalf of RU’s students and faculty – to provide consolidated and modern facilities in which to learn, study and teach," said President Kyle. "This new building will be an ideal opportunity to consolidate the majority of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences, our largest college, into a single building and to get the college’s departments out of buildings not ideally suited for their purpose and in some cases, temporary, inadequate or too widely dispersed."

The new CHBS academic building is envisioned to provide state-of-the-art academic space consisting of classrooms, offices, laboratories and student/faculty collaborative space. The new CHBS academic building will consolidate most of the college’s departments, which are located among seven different locations across campus.  Among the departments of the college that will be accommodated in the new building are: Communication, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, English, Foreign Language, History, Philosophy & Religious Studies, and the Office of the Dean.

CHBS-from-Muse

Architectural view of the new CHBS building from Muse Hall.

The new building will have an entrance facing Main Street as well as an entrance from the campus quadrangle. It will have a Georgian face to the quadrangle that complements the current architecture of the Radford Campus and will have a more contemporary face to Main Street that will be similar to the Main Street entrance of the new Center for the Sciences building. The building will also have a landscaped courtyard, 90 seat classroom, moot courtroom with adjacent classroom, television studio, forensic laboratory and an emergency operations training center that will double as RU’s actual emergency operations center, as necessary.

The new academic building will be located in the area between Muse Hall and McConnell Library.  Construction is expected to begin this spring, with completion projected for 2016.

CHBS-from-MainStreet

Architectural view of the new CHBS building from Main Street.

Since 2005, Radford University has secured approval and funding for nearly $300 million in capital projects, including both new construction and renovation. In 2008, Radford opened the state-of-the-art Covington Center for Visual and Performing Arts and in fall 2012, opened a new 110,000 square-foot, $44 million building for the College of Business and Economics. The university also has renovated several residence halls, the campus’ largest dining facility and the technologically advanced Young Hall, as well as constructed the Hurlburt Student Center.  Current construction projects include the 110,000 square-foot, $32 million Student Fitness and Wellness Center, slated to open this fall, and the 114,000 square-foot, $49.5 million Center for the Sciences, slated to open in 2015.

The new CHBS academic facility will be designed by Moseley Architects of Virginia Beach. The construction management firm selected for this project is S.B. Ballard, also of Virginia Beach.

CHBS-from-Heth

Architectural view of the new CHBS building from Heth Hall.

Feb 4, 2014