CINCINNATI, OH – Xavier University broke ground on the Hoff Academic Quadrangle project in a ceremony held today. Called “the most sweeping project in Xavier’s 177-year history”, The Quad, which will feature the Learning Commons and new Williams College of Business, will be the centerpiece of a transformation that will help Xavier meet the learning needs of its students in the 21st century.
The four-story, 88,000 sf Williams College of Business will house undergraduate and graduate business education programs and provide a prominent home for the Cintas Institute for Business Ethics, as well as the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Center for Investment Research. In addition to classrooms and offices, the College will include project work rooms, suites for executives in residence, and a multi-media trading room.
The five-story, 84,000 sf Learning Commons will be accessible around the clock and will house the Information Resource Center, the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Center for Student Excellence, Honors Seminar, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and the Pedagogical Institute for Jesuit Education. Offices, classrooms, informal meeting spaces and specialized learning spaces will share space with a 200-seat auditorium.
Other aspects of the Hoff Academic Quardrangle project include the modernization of the McDonald Library and Alter Hall and the construction of a new Central Utility Plant.
The Quadrangle is named for The Rev. James E. Hoff, S.J., who served as the 33rd president of Xavier from 1991 to 2000. The first phase of the project, which will be constructed to LEED Silver certification standards, is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010. Shepley Bulfinch completed the Master Plan for the project in 2007.
