Construction on Campus Crossroads, a $400 million project that will use the University of Notre Dame’s iconic football stadium as a hub for new facilities supporting academic and student life initiatives, will begin in November, after the final home game of the season.
“We announced this project in January with the hope — though not necessarily the expectation — that we could begin in November,” Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., said. “Thanks to the tireless work of many, plans have been finalized and funds have been raised so that we can, indeed, commence construction on facilities that will unite and inspire every member of our campus community for decades to come.”
Crossroads construction will begin with work on the buildings connected to the east and west sides of Notre Dame Stadium.
Laboratories, classrooms and offices for the anthropology and psychology departments will occupy four levels of the nine-story building on the east side of the stadium, with one level devoted to a digital media center.
“This building will enable the psychology and anthropology departments to consolidate their offices, labs and classrooms now spread across multiple locations to one innovative setting,” John McGreevy, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, said. “They will be able to have nearly all of their teaching and scholarship centered in one place, enabling the genuine interaction between undergraduates, graduate students and faculty that fosters long-lasting scholarly results.”
Space designed to enhance student development and formation will fill the first five levels of the nine-story building linked to the west side of the stadium.
“This new facility will provide exciting and much-needed space for innovative student programming and events,” said Erin Hoffmann Harding, vice president for student affairs. “It will improve our ability to meet the recreational needs of our entire campus, and integrate our career services offerings across the University for the benefit of both students and employers.”
Both buildings will be topped by stadium seating and media accommodations. Revenue generated through ticket sales will be used to help pay for the project and maintain the new academic and student life buildings.
Work on a structure connected to the south side of the stadium housing the Department of Music and the Sacred Music at Notre Dame program is expected to begin in November 2015.
All facets of the 800,000-square-foot project will be completed by August 2017.
The University Commencement Ceremony, which has been held in Notre Dame Stadium for the past five years, will be staged in Purcell Pavilion of the Joyce Center in 2015. It was held in the Joyce Center from 1969 to 2009.
The need to add significant and conveniently located academic and student life space closer to other campus facilities led University leaders to conceive of Campus Crossroads in the spring of 2013. Dozens of faculty and staff assisted by outside consultants conducted a nine-month feasibility study into expanding the use of the stadium, and in late January the University announced the project.
The construction phase will require the removal of trees surrounding the stadium. Many will be replanted throughout campus, including in Cedar Grove Cemetery and on the nine-hole golf course, both areas of the campus that lost numerous trees in a storm this summer. When Crossroads is complete, new trees will be planted to replace those that were transplanted.
Campus Crossroads is one of several academic and student life projects scheduled for construction over the next three to four years. The projects will total some 1.4 million square feet in additional space for research, scholarship and residential life initiatives.
The lead architectural firm for the Crossroads Project is The S/L/A/M Collaborative. RATIO Architects is the co-designer. Other consultants include Workshop Architects for the student center and 360 Architecture for the recreation, fitness and hospitality areas. The contractor is Barton Malow Co.
Details of the project are available online at crossroads.nd.edu.
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on August 28, 2014.