Lillis Business Complex Set to Break Grounds in More Ways than One March 22, 2002
EUGENE-Thanks to private donations, construction of a state-of-the-art business
school building is set to begin at the University of Oregon despite a state
budget crisis and declining public funding of higher education.
Officials say the $40-million facility will be a monument to maximizing available
resources: for the student, for the environment and for the future economic
health of the state.
The university's Charles H. Lundquist College of Business will host a groundbreaking
ceremony for the Lillis Business Complex at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, in
the courtyard of Gilbert Hall, 955 E. 13th Ave. on the UO campus. The event
will feature UO President Dave Frohnmayer, business college Dean Philip Romero
and lead donors Chuck Lillis, former MediaOne Group chairman, and his wife,
Gwen.
"This is a visionary building that will set the standard for business school
facilities nationwide," says Romero. "This new home will provide the physical
architecture needed to deliver a team-based, innovative, world-class education
for the business leaders of tomorrow. The building also will be a tremendous
example of energy efficiency and sustainable design."
The four-story, 196,500-square-foot construction and renovation project will
update the business college's antiquated Gilbert Hall facilities, the oldest
and most cramped among Pac-10 business schools. The school's current quarters
were built to accommodate 942 students and 42 faculty members. In 2001-2002,
those same facilities served more than 2,500 students and 130 faculty and staff
members.
The complex will include 145,000 square feet of new construction to replace
Commonwealth Bridge, a classroom facility built in 1952 that connects the two
wings of Gilbert Hall, which were finished in 1916 and 1921. The new building
and its dramatic glass atrium will provide a distinctive identity and "front
door" to the college as well as to the northwest end of campus. The UO business
program, ranked first in Oregon and second in the Northwest for undergraduate
and Master of Business Administration students, also will benefit from facilities
that reflect its academic quality.
Another 37,000 square feet in Gilbert Hall will be renovated substantially,
and 14,500 square feet in the 1980s-era Chiles Business Center will be updated.
Altogether, the college will gain 600 classroom seats including a new auditorium
when the complex opens for the 2003-04 school year.
Much more than just extra room, though, the new complex will offer carefully
designed spaces that maximize learning through technology, team project rooms,
flexible classrooms, study areas and a career services center. Six learning
centers will cluster student resources and faculty offices together around
particular disciplines. These shared spaces will unite students, faculty and
the business community to facilitate hands-on learning and team-oriented teaching.
The complex also will maximize environmental conditions to minimize its impact
on nature. The facility's design will surpass all standards for energy efficiency
and environmental sustainability through the use of solar energy panels, water-conserving
fixtures, a floor plan that harnesses prevailing breezes for cooling, "smart" electrical
controls that turn off lights and non-essential items when not in use, building
materials that are recycled or created using sustainable methods, and more.
"Our students learn to make the most of natural advantages. Now their educational
environment can do the same," says Romero.
The new educational environment also will help recruit top students and faculty
and enable the college to better work in partnership with the business community,
which played a key part in making the new building possible.
The project will proceed with $33.6 million in private-sector gifts that
have been raised to date. Led by $14 million in gifts from Chuck Lillis, who
earned his Ph.D. from the UO business college in 1972, and his wife, Gwen,
it is the largest academic building fundraising campaign in UO history.
LCB officials say that private donors and corporate partners have stepped
up to invest in the future economic prosperity of the state at a time when
the state itself has limited resources to invest.
"Investors in the Lillis Business Complex are providing more than just bricks
and mortar; they are changing the lives of students one at a time," says Chris
Murray, business college associate dean. "These students will go on to be the
next generation of business leaders, starting new companies and reenergizing
existing enterprises-providing the economic engine Oregon needs for prosperity."
