Work to commence on UB's 'Heart of the Campus' project

Enlarge Photo

Dan Miner

Reporter- Buffalo Business First

Email  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn  |  Google+

Renovation work on the University at Buffalo's "Heart of the Campus" project will begin this month at Capen Hall.

Heart of the Campus — a priority project in the UB 2020 initiative — is designed to build community and a sense of place in Amherst campus' busy academic corridor, where the majority of its nearly 20,000 undergraduates go to class.

The first phase of Heart of the Campus is expected to cost $7.9 million, and includes extensive renovation of Capen Hall's third-floor Silverman Library, consolidation of services by the Office of Accessibility Resources to the ground floor of Capen and a facelift for the common space adjacent to the undergraduate Admissions office.

That space near the Admissions Office is often the first thing prospective students and other campus visitors see when they visit UB's Amherst campus, university officials said.

"HOTC moves UB into the future: a new lobby environment, increased student gathering and service spaces, and a modern learning setting," said Dennis Black, UB's vice president for university life and services. "All of these improvements will impact the student experience in a positive and lasting manner."

The project's various components will happen in different phases, but the entire project is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.

Dan Miner is Business First's enterprise reporter. He also covers education and public companies.