During his freshman year, one of the members of the Editorial Board had a class in the bridge that connected the two halves of Gilbert Hall (a bridge that present freshmen and sophomores won’t remember). The cramped wooden desks left backs sore, and harsh light torched the length of the tunnel-like classroom. All in all a poor learning environment by modern standards.
But in recent years, contractors have torn down most of the aging building and replaced it with the new, state-of-the-art Lillis Business Complex which is set for a Friday christening. Boasting sleek but functional architecture, several hundred more seats than the replaced structure and an array of energy-saving and other Earth-friendly features, the business school has catapulted into the 21st century. And in a few years that have seen slashed higher education budgets, the new business complex is in many ways one of the best things to happen at the University in recent memory.
The $41 million glass-and-brick structure’s architecture is impressive, but its clean, green features are certainly its most important accomplishment. They continue the University’s fine tradition of pursuing environmental protection in its day-to-day operations.
“The sustainable and environmental concern on this project has been incredible,” Lillis project manager Matt Pearson told the Emerald in 2002.
Indeed, the design can make use of many hours of natural daylight each day to minimize the need for artificial lighting. To better regulate temperature, windows are well-shaded, and the building’s top will be covered with a so-called green roof, which prevents some heat from entering the building on warm days. The roof filters and reduces run-off water as well. Even the building’s frame includes recycled materials.
But the benefits of the well-planned Lillis go beyond solidifying the University’s reputation for environmentally conscious policy and making learning spaces much more livable: The net gain of some 600 seats will grant much-needed relief from the overcrowding burdening a university that has swelled to over 20,000 students without adding any major facilities in the past few years.
The building’s aesthetics, too, particularly in conjunction with East 13th Avenue’s so-called “pedestrian refuge,” will make walking to off-campus businesses and classes at campus’s west end just a little nicer.
Finally, having a new, technologically advanced building should draw more applicants, and even professors, to the school, increasing the quality of the accepted students and culling all the more prestige for the University.
In light of these multifarious benefits, the University owes a debt of gratitude to the many private donors who funded about nine-tenths of the project (including the building’s namesakes Chuck and Gwen Lillis). The rest of the money came from bonds.
If the University continues to expand while building academic facilities as modern and eco-friendly as Lillis, it should arrive at a bright and prestigious future.