Trustees Approve Construction of Keller Center, Football Building

The Duke University Board of Trustees Friday gave the go-ahead for the start of construction of a $26 million expansion of the Fuqua School of Business's Keller Center, an $18 million football building and a $3.5 million renovation of the Biological Sciences Building. The board also approved initial planning for a $12.5 million expansion and renovation for radiation oncology facilities in the Morris Building, which is part of the Duke Clinic. Approved by a board committee was the design for the $35 million Center for Human Genetics Building expected to start construction next year. Investments in the academic and research facilities are components of a draft strategic plan for the university to be discussed by the board this weekend. The 75,000-square-foot Keller Center addition, which received preliminary approval by the trustees in October, will house a student center and offices. Construction is expected to begin later this month with completion by July 2002. The football building also had received preliminary endorsements from the board. It will be a 62,000-square-foot facility overlooking Wallace Wade Stadium and will house coaches' offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, a players' lounge, a weight room and training rooms. Construction will begin this winter. The Biological Sciences Building renovation will create three new state-of-the-art research laboratories on the third floor, construct a rooftop mechanical penthouse and provide for future renovation. The project is designed to meet the needs of a growing biology department. The radiation oncology project will allow the department to meet growing demand for radiation therapy by replacing outdated equipment and providing additional space for faculty, staff and support services. Radiation therapy is used alone or in combination with other treatments in more than half of all cancer cases and the Duke department, one of the largest in the nation, currently provides nearly 40,000 treatments per year to more than 1,100 patients. Friday's board action approved the project site, scope and selection of an architect. The Duke University Health System will return to the board later to seek approval to begin construction. The Center for Human Genetics building project first went to the board for initial approval in October. Friday's action approved the design of the 120,000-square-foot, five-story building that will house offices, laboratory space and clinical space for the center, which is a key part of the university's new interdisciplinary Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy. The university will return to the board in February to seek construction approval.