Brooklyn College Begins $76M West Quadrangle Construction

Decaying Plaza Building, Bedford Overpass Set To Be Demolished

Brooklyn College President Christoph Kimmich uses a sledgehammer on the Bedford Avenue Overpass at the groundbreaking ceremony for the West Quad project. The overpass was originally built in 1973, as a means of accessing the Plaza Building.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Monday, July 28, 2003

FLATBUSH - After at least eight years of planning, the City University of New York's Brooklyn College initiated a $76.3 million project this month that will provide it with a new West Quadrangle and West Quad Building - as well as demolishing the Bedford Avenue Overpass and Plaza Building.

The project - slated to be finished by December 2007 - will also complement the construction of new facades and entrances on the Roosevelt and James Buildings.

"In keeping with the academic styling of the existing campus, the new grounds will feature a beautifully landscaped quadrangle with trees and grassy areas ideal for campus events, student activities, or just relaxing on a spring day," states BC's website about the new quadrangle being constructed.

According to Alice Newcomb-Doyle, the college's associate director of public relations, the new quad is being constructed in part to rccapture a 1936 design plan by the college's original architect, Randolph Evans.

Although the West Quad Building will be 50,000 gross square feet smaller than the existing Plaza Building, it will be nearly as functional, says the college's website. It will provide classroom space and house Admissions, Recruitment, Financial Aid, Food Services, and Grounds and Custodial Support offices.

Additionally, the structure will house the Department of Physical Education & Exercise Science, and feature improved indoor sports facilities including several new gymnasiums, a swimming pool, and an indoor track.

"We're going to have a new four story building on campus that makes much more sense than a one story building," said Newcomb-Doyle. "It's a more efficient use of campus space, and it consolidates and updates at the same time because we're going to not only have recreational facilities, but student services as well."

The Bedford Avenue Overpass and Plaza were built in the early 1970s. Consultants determined that it would be more cost effective to demolish the plaza, which has been suffering from inefficient use of space, poor ventilation, and high maintenance costs, rather than renovate it.

"Planners estimate that the cost of the construction will be offset in less than 20 years by the increased efficiency and reduced energy consumption of the new building as well as the elimination of costly infrastructure repairs required in the decaying Plaza facility," stated the website.

The current renovations were first proposed in the college's 1995 master plan. Funding for the current initiative came from a New York State budget allocation.

Newcomb-Doyle said that the project was not started until this month, in part, because the school wanted to finish renovations on its new library first.

Asked for his opinion on the budget allocation, State Senator Carl Kruger, a member of the Senate's Higher Education Committee, called Brooklyn College the "jewel and centerpiece" of the CUNY system. He said of the financing, "It's part of a long-term commitment that we have to the entire CUNY system.

"We would've liked to spend more," Kruger said. "This was at least a positive step in a very bad budget year."

Children's Museum Architect Also Tapped for College

The project's architect, Rafael Vinoly, won the Bard and Municipal Art Society Awards for his renovation of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. More recently, he designed the Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia and the new additions to the Brooklyn Children's Museum, and was a finalist for the redesign of the World Trade Center site.

For information on the tentative time schedule for and accommodations being made as a result of renovations, log onto West Quad Project Newsletter. Questions or concerns about the project can be e-mailed to westquadproject@brooklyn.cuny.edu.