Campbell construction projects make strides

Buies Creek, N.C.-Construction nears completion on Campbell University’s Robert and Anna Gardner Butler Chapel. Physical Plant Director David Martin said the university should have the Certificate of Occupancy on the main chapel by the end of June.

The chapel anchors a corner of Campbell’s Academic Circle adjacent to the Taylor Hall of Religion. Designed by architects Little and Associates, the chapel blends Gothic and contemporary design. The $7.8 million structure includes a sanctuary with exposed beam construction, a separate bell tower (to be completed in July), prayer room and surrounding gardens. Plans are for the chapel to be a setting for worship, meditation, study and special events.

Other projects under construction include the renovation of the new home of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. The new law school, which almost doubles the space of the school’s former facility, is a 110,000 square-foot, four-story building located on 225 Hillsborough Street in the heart of Raleigh just a few blocks from the legislative district. According to Martin, the law school is on track and ready for classes to begin on Sept. 15. The school will feature 13 technologically advanced classrooms, a spacious law library and three contemporary courtrooms. Designed by Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott with support from the architectural firm of Small Kane, the school will be one of only a handful of the nation’s law schools to house a working court, the North Carolina Business Court, Raleigh Division. The court is a specialized forum of the North Carolina State Court’s trial division that handles cases involving complex issues of corporate and commercial law in the state.

Back on the main campus, Sauls, Strickland and Hedgepeth residence halls are undergoing renovation and three laboratories in the Leslie Campbell Hall of Science are being updated. Projects still on the drawing board include a $10 million, three-story, 150-bed residence hall; an eight-lane NCAA certified track; the conversion of the old Campbell laundry facility into state-of-the-art science labs; the relocation of the Carrie Rich Memorial Library to the Wiggins law building; and the renovation of the old library building to accommodate Campbell’s new Physicians Assistant program.

According to Martin, construction on the new residence hall should begin in August while the track design is complete and waiting on some final funding. The date on the relocation of the Carrie Rich Library is still open, as it will depend on when construction begins. The renovation of the library, which will include classrooms, labs and offices for the Physician’s Assistant program, will be completed by fall 2011.

Photo Copy: The Robert and Anna Gardner Butler Chapel on the Campbell University campus. (Photo by Shannon Ryals)