By KARIN KAPSIDELIS

The landscape of Virginia Commonwealth University is about to change with the approval yesterday of the demolition of four old buildings to make way for a classroom complex and the new School of Medicine.

Also on the horizon are a new residence hall and parking facility that will bring the university closer to its vision of Grace Street "as our college street," said Brian J. Ohlinger, VCU's associate vice president for facilities management.

The board of visitors approved the demolition of the art deco A.D. Williams Building, which will be replaced by the 12-story School of Medicine at the corner of 12th and East Marshall streets. Interior demolition and asbestos abatement will begin next month, with the site expected to be cleared by October.

The board also approved the demolition of a set of row houses on Linden Street, a school building on North Harrison and the former Baptist Student Union building on Floyd Avenue, which stand in the way of a $44 million classroom facility.

None of those buildings will be removed until VCU obtains state financing for the project.

The new 459-bed residence hall and 218-space parking deck will be built on Grace Street property already cleared of structures and now used for parking. The two projects, expected to open in fall 2012, together will cost about $41 million and will be financed using university funds.

The facilities will be built on the south side of West Grace between Laurel and Shafer streets. Only a small restaurant will remain between the residence hall and the deck.

The new classroom building will be constructed across the street from the Student Commons. It will take up much of the block bounded by Harrison and Linden streets and Floyd Avenue to the alley with Grove. The VCU Meeting Center will remain at the corner of Harrison and Floyd.

Scheduled to be razed for the project are the three 1910 row homes at 102-106 N. Linden St. that are now joined as a single property and used as VISTA offices by the School of Social Work.

That property is behind the now-vacant Baptist Student Union at 1000-1002 Floyd Ave. that was built as housing in 1905.

The 1954 school building at 109 N. Harrison, which VCU uses for offices, was built by Grove Avenue Baptist Church. The church sold its property to VCU in 1977 when it relocated.

According to VCU, the buildings on the Monroe Park campus do not have significant historical value. Ohlinger said VCU has had no objections from Fan District residents, who've been consulted about the design of the classroom building.

"They're very pleased with what we're doing," he said.

The 102,000-square-foot, L-shaped classroom building will have four stories, with two for classroom space and a floor each for the English department and the School of Social Work.

VCU received approval from the state Department of Historic Resources in September for the demolitions.

The state approved the A.D. Williams demolition in 2008 over objections of historic preservationists and city officials, who sought to have the School of Medicine built elsewhere.

The nine-story Williams clinic, built in 1936, will be replaced by a 12-floor, mostly concrete-and-glass building that will include salvaged historic artifacts in the design.

The new building will allow the university to increase medical school enrollment from 750 to 1,000 students.

The $158.6 million project, expected to be completed by January 2013, will be "a monumental step forward for this university and our medical school," board member Stuart C. Siegel said.

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.

Originally published by KARIN KAPSIDELIS; Times-Dispatch Staff Writer.

(c) 2010 Richmond Times - Dispatch. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.