Grooming the South Lawn

By Aaron Lee

Published: August 25, 2008

Construction of a terrace that will extend over Jefferson Park Avenue, connecting New Cabell Hall and the under-construction South Lawn, should begin by the middle of September.

The terrace is a piece of the $105 million South Lawn project the University of Virginia began in spring 2007 and hopes to complete by the end of 2010. The project is the largest on Central Grounds in the last 100 years, officials said.
The plan calls for using the 95-foot-by-250-foot grass-capped terrace to connect the New Cabell side of JPA with two new arts and sciences buildings across the avenue.
James Kelley, facilities management project director for the university, said construction of the terrace could begin by Sept. 13.

The new buildings — which the university plans to start moving into by early 2010 — will house classrooms and offices and will connect at one end at a round common building.
“We are more than out of space,” said Anna Towns, director of space planning and management.
Towns said the new buildings will have “informal space” — including gardens and lounges — where students and faculty can mix.

The common building will house an amphitheater-style lecture hall that can seat 250 people. The three-story building’s roof will also connect to the terrace.
Completing the lion’s share of the construction work on the terrace could take up to three months, Kelley said. But much of the work that could affect traffic will be done from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., he said.
The South Lawn project covers an area that was most recently home to a university parking lot.
The project is adding 110,000 square feet of new space.

Once it is completed, the university is planning an interior renovation of New Cabell Hall that could begin as soon as spring 2010, Kelley said.
A decision on what will occupy the renovated New Cabell space has not been announced, Towns said.
An August report on the progress of the South Lawn construction puts the project at roughly 35 percent complete.