The state is contributing $65 million to the project cost.
Crews are at work on the new $95 million academic classroom building at UMass
AMHERST – More than 100 University of Massachusetts staff, officials, and guests Friday celebrated the new 171,500-square-foot academic classroom building that is on schedule to open in the fall of 2014.
Construction began in March so the event was billed as a celebration rather than groundbreaking.
“The building was needed many decades ago,” said UMass alum State Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, who spoke at the celebration in the Student Union ballroom Friday.
“Like fine wine, this took time to age,” he said. But he said, “I’m very happy to see the building coming onto the landscape of campus.” At the same time, he talked about the need for the state to carry more of the burden of both capital spending and the operating budget.
The state is contributing $65 million to the $95 million project, with the campus paying $20 million and the UMass Building Authority to cover the remaining $10 million.
UMass President Robert L. Caret is pushing the state to pay 50 percent of the operating costs instead of 45 percent. “We have to recommit ourselves …to get reinvested in higher education.”
The new building, which will provide classrooms for students in communication and linguistics and in the journalism and film studies programs, is located near the campus pond just outside of the ballroom. “It’s a visible manifestation of our values,” said Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.
UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy spoke Friday at the celebration of the new academic building on campus.
The new building will offer five classrooms for team-based teaching, which allows students to work together on projects as well as providing the technology to do so.
Teaching critical thinking and teamwork are key to preparing students for a successful future, said Victor Woolridge, a Springfield resident and member of the UMass Board of trustees.
The four-story building will feature 2,000 new classroom seats and is intended to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification standards.
Shane Conklin, interim director of facilities planning, said the project is coming in on time and on budget. He said the building will also feature a green roof with plantings that will be visible on campus.
He said the $177 million Commonwealth Honors College residential complex is also coming in on time and is slated to open in the fall of 2013.