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Historic campus building to be expanded, renovated
Peoria, IL (Oct. 22, 2009) -- Bradley University broke ground today on a $22 million expansion and renovation of Westlake Hall, one of the University’s original campus buildings.
Completed in 1897 as the Horology Hall, the building will be transformed over the next several years into a modern academic building with 85,000 square feet of academic space, while retaining its classic architectural features.
"Westlake Hall and its clocktower have stood as symbols of our Bradley heritage for more than a century," Bradley President Joanne K. Glasser said. “With the groundbreaking of this spectacular renovation and expansion, we will provide our students with a state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment.
“This investment in Westlake Hall – the first academic jewel in our Renaissance Campaign – will help educate teachers, health care professionals and civic leaders for years to come. We are facing critical national, state and regional shortages in those academic and professional areas, and Bradley University will prepare students for the globally competitive marketplace in our revitalized Westlake Hall.”
The transformed Westlake Hall will be six times larger than the original building and the addition will rise to four stories, rather than three. A glass atrium will allow unique views of the historic clocktower from inside the building.
Home to the College of Education and Health Sciences and the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service, students will use Westlake Hall to study to be educators, physical therapists, health care professionals and leaders in public service. The expanded, state-of-the-art structure will feature an auditorium; "smart" classrooms with Internet2 capabilities; laboratories for science, mathematics, reading, language arts, assistive technology and counseling education; space for students to meet, study and prepare instructional materials; and faculty offices.
Due to the anticipated shortage of teachers and health care professionals in the years ahead, the state of Illinois has provided funding for the Westlake Hall project. The state allocated $8.9 million to Bradley as part of its most recent capital construction program, funds that have helped work on Westlake move ahead. Private contributions are being solicited to cover the remaining costs.
Major construction is not anticipated to begin until next summer when the College of Education and Health Sciences moves into temporary quarters in Haussler Hall.
The renovated structure is expected to meet LEED gold certification standards. LEED is an internationally recognized certification system that measures how well a building performs in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
The Westlake Hall expansion is one of six building projects included in the $150 million Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance that was launched in April 2008. To date about $125 million has been pledged to the campaign, the largest in the University's history.
The History of Westlake Hall
Henry Ives Cobb, architect for the University of Chicago and several buildings at the Columbian Exposition, was the architect for the building originally named Horology Hall. Contracts for construction were awarded in April 1897 and construction was completed in October of the same year. The building was the only one in the United States that was erected solely for use as a horological school, a department of what then was Bradley Polytechnic Institute. The building was renamed in 1946 to honor Allen T. Westlake, who served as dean of horology. In 1961, Westlake Hall became the home for the College of Education.