The University has saved $10 million from construction costs at Pelham Hall and will use part of the money to transform Ames Hall into an academic building, administrators said last week.

The project – currently in the planning stages – is slated to begin in the fall of 2010 and will be the first project the University will tackle as part of the 2010 Mount Vernon Campus Plan, said Alicia O’Neil, senior associate vice president for operations.

Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz said the University was able to save money from the Pelham renovations, currently taking place on the Mount Vernon campus, because of the weaker economy.

“With all this economic downturn, the cost of facilities has dropped fairly dramatically,” Katz said.

Currently, Ames Hall is home to both the campus’ main dining space and a variety of student support services. However, when Pelham Hall opens in the fall of 2010, it will be home to the campus’ main dining hall, freeing up Ames for academic space, O’Neil said.

“When the Pelham Redevelopment project is complete in fall 2010, a number of student-support functions that have historically been located in Ames Hall will relocate to the new building,” she said in an e-mail. “This offers the University the opportunity to renovate and add to the existing Ames Building and change the building to an academic use, allowing GW to further balance the academic and residential environments on the Mount Vernon campus.”

Robert Snyder, senior adviser to the dean of freshmen and managing director for Mount Vernon Campus Life and Marketing, said the proposed changes for Ames is on par with the University’s vision for the Vern.

“Our vision for the Mount Vernon Campus continues to be providing the campus as an integrated, yet distinctive resource for the entire GW community,” Snyder said in an e-mail.

O’Neil said the project is still in its first stages, and will be designed and planned through “a community-based planning process.”