Editor’s Note: To provide a perspective for this week’s groundbreaking ceremonies, the Record reviews Ann Arbor campus construction in the past decade and looks ahead to future projects on pages 7–11.
Under a theme of “Building on Tradition,” the University will hold groundbreaking ceremonies Friday (Nov. 19) for three Central Campus buildings—East Engineering Building renovation, Harrison M. Randall Laboratory of Physics addition, and the Undergraduate Library addition and renovation. All faculty, staff and students are invited to ceremonies that begin at 2 p.m. on the Diag. A reception follows at 2:30 p.m. in the Willard Henry Dow Laboratory atrium.
The three building projects will add more than 100,000 square feet of new academic and support space to the Central Campus, but President James J. Duderstadt notes that the projects “represent much more than an increase in our overall square footage.
“First and foremost, these changes answer a critical need for renovated classrooms, additional office space, modern laboratories, and combined reference collections. However, we are equally excited about the effect that these changes will have on the Univer-sity community.
“We foresee unprecedented opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations among faculty and students—collaborations that can foster both new areas of inquiry and new learning opportunities,” the president says.
“We have plans for connected walkways between buildings and flexible building designs, such as a lecture room in the East Engineering Buildings that also will serve as a recital hall. For the first time,” Duderstadt adds, “students and faculty will have the chance to find a 300,000-volume collection from the various science disciplines in one location.
“Today we are ‘building on tradition’ at Michigan, as we continue to improve the quality and character of this campus for future generations of Michigan scholars.”
