The GW Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to construct a new $275 million Science and Engineering complex on the Foggy Bottom campus. The decision to build the controversial 8-story, 400,000 sq. ft. building brings to a close a 4-year planning process that often raised questions about the identity of the University, which has traditionally been know for its International Relations, Political Science, and International Business programs.
W. Russell Ramsey, Chairman of the Board of trustees, recognized that the construction of the complex is part of a transformation for the university into a primary hub of research in the nation's capital. University President Steven Knapp also applauded the decision, describing the expansion of the University's science and engineering programs as a "milestone in the step to becoming a world-class research university."
The Science and Engineering Complex, or SEC, is slated to be constructed on the footprint of the parking garage that now stands on the corners of 22nd and H streets, across from Rome Hall. The three dorms on the same block, Fulbright, JBKO, and Munson, will be left in their current locations. Several floors of parking will be located beneath the basement to offset the loss of parking space as a part of the university's distributed parking strategy.
Like the GW's last major construction project, the South Hall dorms, the SEC will be built in accordance to the LEED Silver environmental standard, and will feature a variety of retail space on the first floor. Construction of the complex is scheduled to begin in 2011, with completion set in 2014 and usage beginning in 2015.
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