The groundbreaking for the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning and Fine Arts and Design Library is set for Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Cornell and Central NE. The event honors the New Mexico State Legislature for their financial support of the new facility.
The event honors the New Mexico State Legislature for their financial support of the new facility. In 1999, Representative Edward Sandoval, Democrat, District 17 in Bernalillo County, sponsored House Capital Outlay Request 504. Sandoval was successful in getting the request passed and now he and other legislators will be honored for their support of the new facility.
“The fence is up around the construction site giving the campus community and general public the pleasure to see this project underway,” said Roger Lujan, director, UNM Facility Planning.
Jaynes Corporation, project contractor, is providing gold shovels for the dignitaries to use at the groundbreaking – and they get to keep them. They are also providing a backhoe.
“We are going to put Representative Sandoval in the backhoe to show everyone that we had to dig deep for this project, but it will soon become a reality,” Lujan said.
The site will be blessed by students in the American Indian Council for Architects and Engineers. Pastries and cocoa will be served before the groundbreaking and green chile stew and mock champagne afterwards will create a welcoming environment for all participants.
“We invite the campus community to come out and share in our pleasure to see this project begin,” said Roger Lujan, director, Facility Planning. The event is free and open to the public.
The request that Sandoval sponsored read, “I request that the following capital outlay project be funded:
• To the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico eight million five hundred thousand dollars ($8,500,000) to plan, design, construct, equip and furnish an architecture and planning building on the main campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in Bernalillo County.”
George Pearl Hall, the 108,000-square-foot building, will be at Central and Cornell, just east of the UNM Bookstore. The site is considered the gateway to UNM.
President Louis Caldera is scheduled to speak after Roger Schluntz, dean, UNM School of Architecture and Planning welcomes visitors and dignitaries. Regent James Koch, Brittany Jaeger, president, Associated Students of UNM; and Buckner Creel, president, Graduate and Professional Student Association, will also make remarks.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu