<p>JHS asked:</p>
<p>“I am not certain why Cue7 is comparing the rehab of a fabulous 90-year-old building with the construction from scratch of a new one.”</p>
<p>My response: because you can still build excellent gothic-style buildings from scratch. Admittedly, such buildings wouldn’t have the tradition of this 90-year old gem, but they are outstanding nonetheless, and appear to be as costly as the amount Chicago is spending on its new Studio Gang-designed behemoth. </p>
<p>For example, Wash U built a 175,000 sq ft law school facility from scratch, for $31M in the late 90s. See here:
<a href=“Anheuser-Busch Hall - Washington University in St. Louis”>http://wustl.edu/community/visitors/tour/danforth/anheuser-busch-hall.html</a></p>
<p>Notre Dame built a new gothic style law school building a few years back as well, It’s around 80,000 sq. ft, and cost about $50M. See here:
<a href=“Law School | Locations | Campus Tour | University of Notre Dame”>http://tour.nd.edu/locations/law-school/</a></p>
<p>UChicago’s earmarked $150M for the new dorm construction. I imagine a dorm with 800 beds would be in the 300,000 sq. ft range. It’s very probable that, for a whopping $150M, the school could build a dorm that’s more consistent with Chicago’s original style. </p>
<p>Alternatively, if that’s not possible, build dorms that are more consistent with the neighborhood’s classic brick architecture. Don’t build a polarizing building that would look at home in downtown Chicago, but sorely out of place in Hyde Park. Most people are perfectly happy with the new Econ department’s space. We can’t say as much about the new dorm. </p>