Construction Eruption

Planning will begin for a multi-level parking garage and a building adjacent to the Bryan Center to house the University Stores and offices, as well as expansion of the library and undergraduate admissions buildings, thanks to approval in October by Duke's board of trustees.

Its Buildings and Grounds Committee approved architect Rafael Viñoly's final design for the $20-million Nasher Museum of Art, to be built between Campus Drive and Duke University Road and Anderson Street and Alexander Avenue. The museum is expected to open in 2003.

The garage part of the Bryan Center's new complex, estimated at nearly $20 million, will be located between the center and Science Drive. The site's slope will permit construction of a six-level facility with only one or two levels of the garage visible from the north side, planners said. The three-story store building, according to current thinking, would be located in the area now occupied by the existing Bryan Center surface parking lot.

Trustees also authorized the start of planning for a major expansion of Perkins Library on West Campus, north of Old Chemistry Building, and approved the start of planning and design work for a $2-million addition to Undergraduate Admissions that will provide a meeting room to hold 150 people.

The trustee action on the new parking garage and store building approved the definition of the project, the location of the facility, and the selection of an architect. Final approval would come this winter, with construction expected to begin next spring.

University Architect John Pearce says the garage and office building will provide between 700 and 800 visitor and permit parking spaces near the core of West Campus and will free up 25,000 square feet of valuable space in the Bryan Center to accommodate more student activities. One level of the garage would be devoted to visitor parking.

The adjacent building will house the retail stores now in the Bryan Center and provide space for offices now in the West Union Building. A new landscaped quad and plaza area will be framed by the south edge of Duke Chapel, the rear of Page Auditorium, the face of the Bryan Center, and the facade of the new store building.

The Campus Master Plan approved last year by the board outlines a need to construct new parking garages rather than continuing to build surface lots. The new project will provide replacement parking spaces for those that will be lost by the closing of the Perkins Library/Divinity School parking lot for construction of new engineering buildings and expansion of Perkins and Divinity, and help meet the needs created by the new buildings. The garage also will help meet the need for more parking for evening and weekend events at the Chapel, Page Auditorium, and the Bryan Center.