Construction is underway on Heavener Hall, the new addition to the Warrington College of Business Administration.
The addition will be north of Bryan Hall, near the corner of Southwest 13th Street and University Avenue, and the college expects to break ground in April for undergraduate classrooms.
The construction and furniture move-in should be completed in Summer 2014, Howie Ferguson, the project manager, wrote in an email.
But 21-year-old Elise Van Wie isn’t thrilled with the new addition.
Van Wie, a UF forest resources and conservation junior, is concerned about the number of trees that will have to be cut down for the new building.
After she looked at an online map of the area, she said, she thinks about 100 trees will have to be cut down.
“Having two large buildings in that visible corner of campus will change the character of that area,” she said. “I don’t know for better or for worse, but I would like to see the trees stay.”
Van Wie said she plans to write a letter to UF President Bernie Machen to ask him to consider the environmental costs and impacts.
Van Wie said she is alone in trying to gain awareness about the trees for now.
“This is the first time that I’ve taken the initiative in something like this,” she said. “Learning through my classes and what my professors are talking about, seeing something like this makes me want to apply what I’m learning.”
Ferguson said the exact quantity of trees that will have to be cut down is still being determined.
He said three underground utilities have to run outside the building. Some trees will have to be removed anyway because they are in poor health.
UF Spokeswoman Janine Sikes said the location has been part of the university master plan as the future building site since 2005.
With about 4,000 students in the program, Sikes said the college needs space to focus on the undergraduate experience.
As for the trees, Sikes said the mitigation plans include replenishing the campus with twice as many trees than will be cut down.
Van Wie said replenishing trees is a step in the right direction, but she wasn’t sure if it outweighs the cost of removing the larger, historic ones.
“They are trying to take measures that will hopefully make up for it in the long run,” she said. “I’d say I respect them for that, and I think that it’s a noble effort.”
In addition, Van Wie is concerned with keeping the natural integrity and original aesthetic intact.
“You are going to walk around campus and see trees, but for how long? When do you stop building?” Van Wie said. “With our campus focusing on sustainability, preserving trees could be a cool step in that direction.”
However, Ferguson said the building’s exterior will be very traditional, keeping with the UF gothic style, while still being energy-efficient and sustainable.
The new building will strive for a Gold or Platinum LEED certification, which is a verification of green buildings.
“Stopping the construction isn’t something that would happen,” Van Wie said. “But I think it’s important to get a voice out there to show there are people who care.”
Contact Alexa Volland at avolland@alligator.org.
Trees north of Bryan Hall will be cut down to make room for Heavener Hall, a new building that will expand the Warrington College of Business Administration.
