A new $37.5 million University of Virginia building was hailed Friday as the solution to uniting Curry School of Education students and faculty.
UVa dedicated the 65,000-square-foot, red brick Bavaro Hall on Friday, nearly doubling the Curry School’s workspace.
“We built a building to unite the school,” said Daniel M. Meyers, who donated $22 million to the project, which was paid for entirely with private funds.
Meyers said Curry School facilities have long been spread throughout Charlottesville, far from ideal for students and faculty.
Designers aimed to fix the geographical division with Bavaro Hall, which has 55 faculty offices, 10 conference rooms, a two-story atrium for gatherings, a large lecture hall, five program area suites and four administrative suites.
UVa President John T. Casteen III, who will retire Aug. 1, said donors were willing to contribute because they understand the value it will have to UVa and they were confident the money would be spent well. Casteen said the building has a state-of-the-art layout that encourages student-faculty collaboration.
Bavaro Hall is off Emmet Street and connects to Ruffner Hall, which has long served as the primary building for the education school.
Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed Bavaro Hall, which pays homage to the original designs of university founder Thomas Jefferson with its red brick and white trim.
Many UVa heads are glad to see Ruffner Hall overshadowed, as they find its severe modernist lines unattractive and lacking in Jeffersonian appeal.
In addition to the Curry School, Bavaro Hall will also house the Sheila C. Johnson Center for Human Services, which university officials expect to become the state’s premier center for educating people with psychological disorders.
Meyers, who co-founded private student loan provider First Marblehead Corp., chose to name the building after Anthony “Wally” Bavaro, a teacher in the Boston area. Meyers said he chose to honor Bavaro — instead of a generic “dumb, fat banker” — because Bavaro was a genuine man and inspirational teacher with a “giant heart.”
Bavaro died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 64.
Bavaro’s National Football League career with the San Francisco 49ers was cut short after a serious injury, which led him to a 42-year teaching and coaching career. Bavaro stuck with teaching, Meyers said, despite pleas from some to become a politician, higher paid school administrator or businessman.
“They didn’t understand, he loved being a teacher,” Meyers said of Bavaro, a longtime family friend and personal mentor.
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