Trustees at Elon University have approved construction of the first phase of a new academic quadrangle that will be called the Academic Village. In keeping with Elon’s Georgian campus, the new quadrangle takes its inspiration from the best elements of classic collegiate architecture, including an amphitheatre as its centerpiece.
The site for Elon’s new Academic Village will be bordered by Haggard, Lebanon and Antioch Avenues in the area south of McMichael Science Center. Construction on the first phase will begin this fall.
Long range plans envision eight small buildings that will house academic departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, a larger academic/classroom building and the amphitheatre. The small buildings will also include residences for honors students and students concentrating on international studies and foreign languages.
“The Academic Village will become the second prominent and central location for liberal arts and sciences programs at Elon,” says President Leo M. Lambert. “It will complement the original arts and sciences focal point, the historic Georgian quadrangle that surrounds Fonville Fountain and includes Alamance, Carlton, Duke, Powell and Whitley buildings.”
The first phase of the project includes two buildings that will provide housing for 44 students along with classroom space and faculty apartments. One of the buildings will be named the Isabella Cannon International Studies Building in honor of
Isabella Cannon, a 1924 alumnus, former mayor of Raleigh, N.C., and one of the university’s greatest benefactors. Dr. Cannon gave Elon $500,000 to fund construction.
Elon trustees have also approved funding for the renovation of Carlton Building, one of the oldest buildings on campus. Work will begin in January and should be completed for the fall 2002 semester.
The first floor of Carlton will house the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies, which coordinates Elon’s extensive study abroad programs, along with El Centro de Espanol, the university’s innovative conversational Spanish language center. The second floor will include a state-of-the-art language learning center, featuring a sophisticated aural learning lab along with technology to give students access to international media resources, including magazines and newspapers, audio, video, satellite television broadcasts and computer-based resource materials. The third floor will house the English department and include classroom and office space.
Total cost of the renovation is projected to be $2 million. A $150,000 grant for the project has been received from the Booth Ferris Foundation of New York. Additional fund raising is continuing.
Carlton was originally built in 1925 following the fire that destroyed the main administration building.