Administrators currently housed in Rice Hall will be moved into buildings across campus by the end of next year, according to a University release Tuesday.
Offices and administrators in Rice Hall will be moved to Old Main, Alumni House and the Marvin Center, meaning current occupants of those buildings will be relocated. Administrative units will begin to move in early 2018 to various locations around campus, and the relocation is slated for completion by the end of next year, according to the release.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions will now be housed on the second floor of the Marvin Center, displacing the Program of Theatre and Dance. Theatre and Dance facilities will be relocated to Building XX at 814 20th St. NW. GW has no other plans to move student space in order to accommodate other Rice Hall administrators.
The president’s office and Office of the Provost will move to the Alumni House at 1918 F St. NW, which is currently used as space for the Office of Alumni Relations. Alumni House will undergo renovations to accommodate the offices. Alternate locations “will be identified” on the Foggy Bottom Campus to house Alumni Relations staff but were not announced.
Old Main will be used as the central administrative space and house the University’s vice presidents, as well as their immediate staff. Officials have been working with academic departments currently located in the building to find alternate locations, and some occupants have already started to move out to allow for construction that will begin in early 2018 and continue into fall.
Officials will continue communicating with staff as plans are finalized about individual relocation plans, including space on the Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon or Virginia Science and Technology campuses that have not been announced.
Old Main will be reconstructed to include more open floor plans with meeting rooms and collaboration spaces that can allow administrators to share resources. Officials said they will have additional meetings this fall to address specific needs for units, according to the release.
The Faculty and Staff Service Center will move from the first floor of Rice Hall to another space on the Foggy Bottom campus, but the University did not say the location.
Other relocation plans will include other spaces around Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon or the Virginia Science and Technology campuses.
GW is currently looking into long-term space needs associated with officials located in leased space near the Foggy Bottom Campus, according to the release. Planning is “underway to ensure that space is appropriately managed to allow for the migration of administrative units in leased space back to campus locations,” the release said.
GW announced last year that its main administrative building and its property at 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. would be revamped into a new location featuring retail and commercial office space.
Boston Properties – the same group that led the redevelopment of The Avenue property at 2200 Pennsylvania Ave., which features apartments and retail locations like Whole Foods – will do the reconstruction of Rice Hall. Construction is scheduled to begin by late 2019 and will be completed by early 2022.
In a March neighborhood meeting, community members heard about GW’s plans for the redevelopment of Rice Hall and 2100 Pennsylvania Ave., which would combine the two buildings and create a shared alley for the retail space.
