Facilities $27 Million Dudley H. Davis Center - $14 Million In September of 2004, the University’s Board of Trustees took a bold step into UVM’s future by formally authorizing the construction of a new student center, the largest and most ambitious building project in the University’s history. The new Dudley H. Davis Center, named in honor of the legendary Burlington banker and UVM alumnus from the Class of 1943, promises to transform the UVM campus experience in the years ahead. The 200,000-square-foot building, targeted for completion in fall 2007, will be located on Main Street, extending eastward from Morrill Hall. As a new “front door” to the campus, the Davis Center will integrate UVM’s learning and living environments. Housing a theatre for the performing arts, a bistro and other food services, the University bookstore and other retail facilities, a ballroom and numerous meeting rooms, public access computing facilities, lounges, an art gallery, and offices for student organizations and services, it will be a hub of activity for students, faculty, alumni, and community. While student and vendor fees and a bond issue will provide much of the $70 million it is estimated the project will cost, the University seeks private support for this vital addition to the campus. The Davis family and friends of Dudley H. Davis have committed half of the $14 million in private funds sought for the project. Learn more about the Davis Center and view progress on the live web cam Dudley H. Davis Center Naming Opportunities PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE DAVIS CENTER 04.15.05 Dudley H. Davis Center Groundbreaking Ceremony 07.04.05 UVM moves 200-year-old building across street to make way for Davis Center Plant Science Building – $5 Million Construction of a new plant science building is essential to support world-class teaching, research, and outreach in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This new facility is a vital bricks-and-mortar investment needed to sustain UVM's academic leadership in the agricultural and basic life sciences. It will meet a pressing need for state-of-the-art laboratory and teaching space that will assist faculty scholarship and provide students the opportunity to be at the forefront of discoveries in areas critical to plant science, ecology, and the natural environment. The plant science building has been identified by the University as the top academic priority for state and federal support, and a high priority for private support through the Campaign for the University of Vermont. The building will offer students, faculty, and staff state-of-the-art laboratory and classroom facilities in support of the College’s teaching, research, and outreach mission. By enhancing the College’s capacity to conduct cutting-edge research, the new facility will make it possible to advance critical studies being conducted by faculty from the Departments of Botany & Agricultural Biochemistry and Plant & Soil Science. Plant Science Building Naming Opportunities "The Greening of Aiken" - $8 million The Greening of Aiken Initiative will help redefine the relationship between building, landscape, and people in a way that demonstrates a pathway to a more sustainable future. The renewed and expanded George D. Aiken Center will provide needed space, but with a reduced ecological footprint. The facility will blend ecological designed systems with appropriate technology to naturally light the interior, to clean and renew building air, and to house occupants in productive spaces that include living machines. The Aiken Center will beautifully celebrate life within like no other building at UVM. This vibrant interior will connect to a functional native and ecologically sensitive landscape that demonstrates how the Aiken Center is an interconnected ecosystem of land, structures, and people. The Greening Initiative, through its programmatic advancements, will also help create a new generation of ecologically literate citizens that understand the costs of traditional building construction and operation, and the benefits of designing and living appropriately within an environment more integrated with ecological systems. The Aiken Center will represent a harbinger of a sustainable future, a “green beacon” to those on-campus and to those coming into the city of Burlington. Click here to see the winning design and building plans for the Greening of Aiken.