The demolition of the currently vacant Bishop's Hall, as part of Phase II of the Candler School of Theology construction, will begin this month, according to University architect Jen Fabrick. It is scheduled to end in July of 2014 and will be named in memory of Rita Anne Rollins, O. Wayne Rollins' first grandchild.
The new building in place of Bishop's hall will house the Pitts Theological Library, study rooms, a classroom, a teaching chapel and some gallery space, Fabrick said. The entire completed complex will stretch until in front of Cannon Chapel.
University leadership created this two-phased design in 2006 after the design and costs were studied for many years, according to Fabrick.
The total cost will be $29.4 million, she added. Some of the funding will come from a $15 million gift from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation received on Dec. 19 as well as various other donors, a Jan. 23 Emory Wheel article said.
"In the combined facility, Candler and Pitts together will have a front door located immediately across from the Cannon Chapel, which we believe is crucial to our community life," dean of the Candler School of Theology Jan Love said in the Wheel article. "Candler and [the] library outgrew [Bishop's Hall] a long time ago. The old building has served us well, but we need well protected, state-of-the-art facilities to protect the Pitts Library collections and to reunite its physical plant with Candler."
In a Jan. 19 University press release, Director of the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation Amy Kreisler said that the foundation is "very pleased to be a part of the continued growth of the Candler School of Theology."
"My grandparents, O. Wayne and Grace Rollins, believed in giving to living institutions that would affect people's lives," Kreisler said in the press release. "Our family has strived to keep that vision alive by the Foundation's continued interest in many areas at Emory University."
Phase I of the project had moved Candler School of Theology from Bishop's Hall to its new facility in August 2008.
This facility – which faces Dickey Drive and required one and a half years of construction – provided five floors of office space, classrooms and the University's Ethics Center, according to the Candler School of Theology website. The website also said that this building was awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) silver-level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
– By Karishma Mehrotra
