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Blagojevich speaks on future of Cole Hall
Governor Rod Blagojevich announced Wednesday that the state will push legislation to fund demolition of Cole Hall and to erect a new building.
The new building will be a $40 million state-of-the-art general classroom building called Memorial Hall. President John Peters said the building will be centralized on campus, but not on the Cole Hall site.
“We are committing the funds needed to build Memorial Hall, to replace Cole Hall, a building now burdened by tragedy and loss,” Blagojevich said. “We will tear that building down, not to erase the memory of what happened, but to remind us that the human spirit, the will to learn, ti build, to grow, to give back – that spirit lives.”
Blagojevich said he is cautiously optimistic about the appropriation for the building passing both the state senate and house.
Peters said if all goes as planned, the planning phase for the new building would take nine months, allowing bids to go out between January and March.
Groundbreaking could occur in spring 2009 and occupancy could come as soon as December 2010.
Peters anticipates the Cole Hall demolition to come late spring, provided state funding comes through.
» Next Campus Article: Briefs for Thursday, Feb. 28
I dont know how I feel about this, but I think that they should totally remodel the major lecture halls and spend money to fix the dorms.
This is a terrible plan, a terrible misuse of funds, and it doesn\'t change what happened. VT didn\'t get rid of their building. And what about the buildings on campus that need work done? This money could be put to better use.
Is it realistic to expect that the general assembly is going to approve $40 mil for this, when we can\'t even get funding to remodel the Stevens Building. And it seems kind of disrespectful, Cole stands as a reminder of how we came together as a community.
What a waste of money. The students who are most affected by the tragedy will no longer be on campus by the time the building is down and the Memorial is up. Another reason why we live in one of the most corrupt states in the nation.
This is truly disappointing. At least they could have asked the students how they felt about it first. If we are stronger then this tragedy, then we need to take back Cole Hall, not destroy it.