A rendering of the in-progress Randolph-Macon Campus Center. (Courtesy of RMC)
A private collage in Ashland is shelling out big bucks to improve its 100-acre campus, and another major project is planned for next year.
Randolph-Macon College is constructing a $6.3 million, 26,500-square-foot student commons building that should be finished by April, according to Mark Brabham, the school’s assistant director of project management.
The student commons will feature a movie theater, multiple meeting spaces, a coffee bar, a lounge, an updated bookstore and a student life office.
The school has been investing in its infrastructure with help from a $100 million capital giving campaign. According the school’s website, it has raised about $80 million.
“Within the last three years, we’ve opened a new tennis court facility, updated the athletic fields, built a new baseball facility, built a new 100-bed resident hall for freshmen, overhauled our football field along with lighting and turf and are planning a new senior residence hall,” Brabham said.
The residence hall project will kick off next spring, after the commons building is complete. It will be apartments for upperclassmen and will be paid for in part by a $2 million gift from the Suffolk-based Birdsong Corporation.
Randolph-Macon is a private college off Interstate 95 near the Ashland Amtrak station. It has about 1,300 students, and its endowment is about $115 million.
English Construction, based in Lynchburg with an office in Richmond, is building the commons. Marcellus Wright Cox is the architect, which is based in the city.
Brabham said that the residence hall is in the design phase and that the construction work would be bid out early next year.
“We want to get going on that in May, after the commons are done,” Brabham said. “Then we can shift our resources.”
Colleges will help keep local builders busy in the coming year. Virginia Union University plans to break ground next month on a $16 million, 68,000-square-foot residence hall.
A rendering of the in-progress Randolph-Macon Campus Center. (Courtesy of RMC)
A private collage in Ashland is shelling out big bucks to improve its 100-acre campus, and another major project is planned for next year.
Randolph-Macon College is constructing a $6.3 million, 26,500-square-foot student commons building that should be finished by April, according to Mark Brabham, the school’s assistant director of project management.
The student commons will feature a movie theater, multiple meeting spaces, a coffee bar, a lounge, an updated bookstore and a student life office.
The school has been investing in its infrastructure with help from a $100 million capital giving campaign. According the school’s website, it has raised about $80 million.
“Within the last three years, we’ve opened a new tennis court facility, updated the athletic fields, built a new baseball facility, built a new 100-bed resident hall for freshmen, overhauled our football field along with lighting and turf and are planning a new senior residence hall,” Brabham said.
The residence hall project will kick off next spring, after the commons building is complete. It will be apartments for upperclassmen and will be paid for in part by a $2 million gift from the Suffolk-based Birdsong Corporation.
Randolph-Macon is a private college off Interstate 95 near the Ashland Amtrak station. It has about 1,300 students, and its endowment is about $115 million.
English Construction, based in Lynchburg with an office in Richmond, is building the commons. Marcellus Wright Cox is the architect, which is based in the city.
Brabham said that the residence hall is in the design phase and that the construction work would be bid out early next year.
“We want to get going on that in May, after the commons are done,” Brabham said. “Then we can shift our resources.”
Colleges will help keep local builders busy in the coming year. Virginia Union University plans to break ground next month on a $16 million, 68,000-square-foot residence hall.