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June
11, 2002 (Lexington, Ky.) --
The University of Kentucky Administration Building,
which was nearly destroyed in a May 15, 2001, fire,
would literally present a new face to the campus under
a preliminary reconstruction plan shown to Board of
Trustees members today.
A porched
Patterson Office Tower plaza entrance to the Administration
Building would be constructed under one proposal presented
in drawings and plans by New York architects R. M.
Kliment and Frances Halsband.
The
architects noted that when the building was constructed
in 1882 and through much of its early days, the rear
of the building actually faced a vacant "backyard."
In modern times, however, the office tower and other
campus buildings have made the building appear as
though it is about to be engulfed in a "wave of concrete,"
said Frances Halsband.
One version
of the restoration plan would call for moving the
statue of President James W. Patterson to a new landscaped
location near the plaza entrance. The architects'
preliminary plans also would call for the building
to have a new two-story, 110-seat public room.
"This
would be a pretty spectacular room," Halsband said.
The plans
would also call for moving the UK Visitor Center from
the Student Center to a remodeled portion of the lower
level of the building facing Limestone Street.
One preliminary
plan also would call for "raising" the building. The
land around the building would be re-graded to more
fully expose the outer limestone walls and the windows
of what is now considered the basement. This is how
the building and several other, older buildings around
it appeared when the campus was first developed.
UK President
Lee T. Todd Jr. told board members he wants the reconstructed
Administration Building to "reflect the past and illuminate
the future."
The president
added, "I want it to be full of life, not just a holding
place for administrators or a place to come when you're
in trouble."
Todd said
UK has about $7.8 million from the insurance settlement
to begin the reconstruction process. However, the
reconstruction under one of the plans presented would
cost about $14.5 million and the second proposal -
returning the building to its original grade - would
cost about $16 million.
"That's
a major question," the president said.
The preliminary
plans also call for classrooms in the reconstructed
Administration Building as it had when it was originally
constructed.
The architects
said that if construction began reasonably soon, a
"target date for the president to walk through the
door" would be late fall of 2003.
President
Todd reported to the board that he hopes to have a
new athletics director in place by the end of July.
The president
said a program he announced during his first month
in office last year of offering scholarships to all
Governor's Scholars and graduates of the Governor's
School for the Arts is paying big dividends. The university
has already received 250 acceptances for the fall
2002 semester from these students - up from 125 the
previous year.
The president
updated board members on the investigation into the
deaths of two students who fell to their deaths May
2 from a window in Kirwan Tower. The president said
the investigation is not complete, but has already
revealed that the windows meet current building codes
as well as those in existence when the building was
built. He said it has been well reported that the
students had been wrestling at least one minute before
they fell and that the university is studying the
possibility of putting bars over the hallway windows.
After the
Board of Trustees approved the 2002-2003 annual operating
budget, UK Board Chairman Billy Joe Miles led a discussion
that resulted in a motion to grant a $100,000 bonus
to President Todd which trustees noted was part of
the president's original incentive compensation package.
The motion passed unanimously.
Citing
the tight current financial climate at the university,
however, President Todd said he will defer receiving
the bonus at this time.
In other
action, the UK Board of Trustees:
-- Accepted
the report of its Ad Hoc Committee on Board Structure
which, among other things, recommended a university-wide
business and general code of ethics be written for
all UK affiliated or related boards, including the
UK Board of Trustees;
-- Accepted
a gift from the Ford Motor Co. of $150,000 and the
company's pledge of $600,000 from the company's truck
plant in Louisville to establish the UK-Ford Manufacturing
Partnership Program in the College of Engineering;
-- Authorized
the sale of about 22 acres of agricultural experiment
station land off the South Farm off Man O' War near
Nicholasville Road; and
-- Authorized
the sale of about 35 acres of the old Pin Oak farm
on U.S. 60 near Frankfort. The acreage contains an
8,000 square foot home leased until 2005 to former
Gov. Louie B. Nunn.
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