Alumni Mall to get facelift and additional parking
Alumni Mall near Drillfield Drive will get a new look this summer with improved landscaping and additional parking.
The $45,000 project, set to begin mid-June, will increase the amount of parking spaces from six to 19 and add benches, flowers, bushes, and trees between the Torgersen Bridge and Drillfield Drive. The project will also enhance the lighting at key pedestrian crossings.
“There should be minimal impact to vehicle and pedestrian traffic during construction,” said Mike Dunn, Virginia Tech transportation planning engineer.
The new parking spaces will be built at an angle similar to most of the parking along the Drillfield. Four of the spaces will be reserved for accessible parking.
Landscaping will include the installation of benches and pavers underneath the Torgersen Bridge. In addition, various new plantings will include Elm trees, barberry, boxwood, liroipe, and roses. The VT logo-shaped barberry at the end of the median on Alumni Mall will not be affected.
The project is the first phase of a long term effort to enhance pedestrian safety, aesthetics, and amenities around the Drillfield area.
Construction should be completed before the beginning of the fall semester.
This is one of several landscaping projects planned for campus this summer. Other landscape improvements include an overhaul of the area near East Eggleston and Owens halls and plantings in front of Burruss Hall. A new seat wall will be built between the library and bookstore.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
