UVa dedicates 2nd building in a week

Ruffin Hall is the second new building at the University of Virginia to be dedicated this week.

Completed shortly before classes began this fall, the building brings together all the university’s studio art programs under one roof for the first time.

It is the first entirely new building constructed on the Arts Grounds since the drama department building opened in 1974.

Dedicated on Thursday, the $26 million building is named for College of Arts & Sciences alumnus Peter Ruffin and his wife, Adeline.

Public and private money paid for the construction that included $5 million from a foundation set up in the Ruffins’ name.

The Kellogg House, which is the first in a string of new first-year residences planned in the Observatory Hill area, was dedicated on Monday. Completion of the new O-Hill-area residences is scheduled for 2017.