JMU’s East Campus Library nearing completion
Posted by Evan Dyson on April 30th, 2008
James Madison University’s East Campus Library, one of several construction projects occurring on campus, is nearing completion. The $31 million project, which broke ground in September 2006, was designed by architectural firm The Design Collective, of Baltimore, Md., and built by Nielsen Builders of Harrisonburg.
On Wednesday, JMU invited the media to tour the 106,000 square foot building.
Featuring areas designed for studying, relaxing, and instruction, the facility emphasizes “connecting people and ideas” according to Dean of Libraries Ralph Aberico. To view this full article with images, click here.
Hooray for libraries, but $31 MILLION??? Wow. I have a feeling that at some point there was a meeting at JMU where the phrase “spare no expense” was used.
With that huge expanse of sloping roof, it amazes me that there was no solar PV included in the design. In 2006, I was chatting with one of the people at JMU who was involved in the design process. I asked him why there was no solar PV, and he replied that no one thought about adding it to the program until it was “too late”.
The entire $31 million cost was recouped when a student purchased four textbooks at the JMU bookstore, so don’t worry about it.
Is there any possibility of retrofitting the building for solar PV? It’d be really cool.
I’d like to see simple hotwater/sun roofing. Even a marginal improvement in effiency for heating costs for such a large building would be wonderful. Thanh, does JMU pay for the steam they receive?