CNU Architectural Ages: Age Three (1996 – 2001)

Ferguson Center for the Arts

Center for the Arts [Plan unveiled] (1997)

Wingfield, Smith Library, & McMurran [Renovation - Aesthetic] (1999)
 James River Hall (2000)

Freeman Center (2001)

Stadium [Phase 1] (2001)

Ratcliffe Hall [Renovation & Addition] (2001)

Ferguson Center for the Arts [Phase 1] (2004)

Ferguson Center for the Arts [Phase 2] (2005)

“We are trying to take a kind-of pretty campus and make it breathtakingly beautiful. We are really creating a masterpiece.”
                    - Paul Trible, March 1997[40]

The Third Architectural Age of the now-named Christopher Newport University (CNU) began when Paul Trible, Jr. became CNU’s fifth president in 1996. Trible attracted prospective students and state delegates by painting “word pictures” of what he envisioned the university to become. After successfully raising state funding, Trible could start to make those words a reality.

CNU had consistently enrolled over 4.5k students every year since the late 1980’s. It had outgrown many of its original facilities and needed modernization. With the introduction of its first residence hall, it had also started pivoting from a commuter campus to a residential one, requiring different infrastructure needs. The building projects during Age Three focused on solving those needs with the largest impact. “These initial construction projects, and the sequence in which they were built, were crucial to jump-start the new Christopher Newport University, putting it on the path to what it is today,” explained William L. Brauer, Executive Vice President of CNU during almost all of Trible’s tenure. The previously established styles of Age One and Two would not be adhered to. This was the beginning of a new, fresh, rebranded, state-of-the-art Christopher Newport University. Trible was taking the college in a new direction, and that would be reflected in the architecture.[41]

The buildings designed and built during Age Three all had different shapes and architects. What did tie these buildings together were their design elements, their themes, and their chief influence: the Center for the Arts.

Ferguson Center beauty shot

The plan for the Center for the Arts (now known as the Ferguson Center for the Arts) was unveiled March 1997, crafted by the world-famous architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The Ferguson Center would take the former Ferguson High School and renovate it into classrooms, offices, a black box theater, and backstage support spaces. Added onto each end of the building would be two new proscenium theater spaces in a modern contemporary style. A curving 2-story concrete colonnade would be built in front of the high school to unify and connect the entire building together. The theater lobbies would feature wide floor-to-ceiling windows, skylights, impressive staircases, and marble floors. The exterior featured bricks with a subtle indented line pattern, curves, striking angles, and a glass tower that lit up at night. It was going to be (and still is) a landmark building for the university and Newport News.[42]

Diamonstein Concert Hall Lobby

Diamonstein Concert Hall

Peebles Theater Lobby

From the Ferguson Center plan, all other buildings in this Age embraced similar modern architectural choices. The Freeman Center had previously been designed during Age Two. When the plans were brought back under Trible, he added “a brick façade, a tall-square tower, and wide windows” to its design, specifically to complement with the future Center for the Arts. These features also continued in the other Age Three buildings. Other repeated design elements included flat roofs, visible structural steel, and skylights.[43]

Freeman Center Concept Art
Credit: Architectural drawing published in CNU Alumni Magazine (Fall 2000)

1/3 of the Freeman's field house, set up for basketball

Openness and visibility were very big themes introduced to campus in this Age. CNU had previously lacked much visibility – figuratively and literally. Its front entrance was off Shoe Lane, a side road to the busier Warwick Boulevard. A series of businesses were along Warwick’s roadway, blocking any ground view of the college. It also didn’t help that almost all the college’s buildings sat low to the ground. CNU’s new buildings would rise above the businesses of Warwick. At the same time, these businesses started to be bought up and demolished for the school’s/Warwick Boulevard’s lane expansion.[44]

Aerial of Christopher Newport University, 2001
Credit: Christopher Newport University

Newer buildings addressed openness and visibility by including lots of glass windows and skylights. During the day, natural light could enter buildings. At night, buildings could be lit up from inside to add an extra layer of theatrics and flair to the outside. Older buildings also saw some changes. Some architectural elements on Age One buildings – long entrance overhangs, closed-in breezeways – now felt “dark, closed off, or uninviting.” Wingfield, McMurran, Ratcliffe, and Smith Library all saw their entrances reworked toward this aim.[45]

James River Hall, c. early 2000's
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

Ratcliffe Hall, renovated into a two-story classroom.
A glass tower now marks its entrance.

Hallway in the Freeman Center

Age Three was CNU’s shortest age, featuring only five construction projects over five years. A new president and administration looking to lay the groundwork for a brighter future. This was the direction campus was going architecturally. Until it wasn’t anymore…



LANDSCAPE

Landscaping became an important asset to cultivate in Age Three. Trible reintroduced a permanent grounds department to improve campus’ haphazard look. Oak trees were planted, grass was kept green, and shrubs and flowerbeds encircled buildings. Concrete aggregate walkways started to be replaced with ones made of brick.[46]

Plants and gardens around the Science Building, post-1996

A brick path with spiral shrubs, trees, and plenty of benches
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

Some criticized that all the money CNU paid towards landscaping would be better spent towards academics. But Trible argued that by making the campus environment look better, it would encourage students to do their best and attract more prospective students. The landscaping played its part along with Trible’s other changes – more applications started to be submitted.[47]

The best-known landscaping project of the period was Saunders Plaza. A vast green oval was formed in the courtyard created by the Admin Building, Smith Library, Wingfield, and McMurran Hall. In the middle was a fountain with a flying geese sculpture by Turner Sculpture. The lawn, its low brick walls, and its central location made the plaza a favored outdoor space for eating, studying, and lounging.[48]

Saunders Plaza
In the background is McMurran Hall without its breezeway
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

Close-up on the Saunders Plaza fountain
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

Saunders Plaza kicked out The Ships memorial that had previously been in that courtyard. The memorial was moved to behind Santoro. Student groups were initially allowed to spray paint & tag it for advertisement. After some controversy over graffitiing the sculpture, The Captain’s Log quoted Trible as saying “They’re ugly, painting [The Ships] can only make them better.” The University’s official response later changed to that The Ships would “be cleaned and then left alone because it will be a memorial.”[49]



NAMES

Age Three set the basic name policy followed under Trible for the main campus. Residence Halls were named after Virginian rivers. In this Age, James River Hall was named after the James River. Academic and gathering-type buildings were named after individuals or businesses that gave money to the University. The Freeman Center was named for the Freeman family as thanks for their $1 million donation towards the Center for the Arts, the largest donation to the University at that time.

There was one name change – the Campus Center became the Student Center in 1996. This was to reiterate CNU’s new motto that it was a “Students First” school.[50]



EXTRAS

This Age marks the creation of the three musketeers of campus architecture during the Trible years: Paul Trible, Jr., Rosemary Trible, and William “Bill” Brauer. Paul Trible was the overall leader/visionary, with his focus mainly being on the exteriors of the buildings. Rosemary Trible was the interior designer. Every color, fabric, and furniture piece was curated under her watchful eye. Bill Brauer was Executive Vice President of the University. He oversaw the capital projects and led the day-to-day construction operations.[51]

The Ferguson Center’s design was unveiled in 1997. Due to its high cost, raising enough funds delayed the project’s completion to 2005. This makes it the only building constructed outside of its Age.

Pei Cobb Freed and Partners wanted to do a project in Virginia “because of the aesthetic and practical challenge of reconciliating the colonial history of Virginia and a bold sense of the future.”[52]

I have previously wrote extensively about the Ferguson Center in the following posts: The History of the Ferguson, What Remains of Ferguson High School?, and Ferguson: The Cuts, the Extras, and MORE! Check them out after this series.

Unbuilt Age Three Library Idea: “Trible said he envisions a renovated library built with a lot of glass, giving it a “very transparent look.” “When lit in the evening it would invite people to enter,” he said. “It will add a dramatic new look to the face of our campus and will powerfully transform and enrich the academic life of the university.” ”[53]

Ratcliffe Hall's entrance at night

When the East Campus development was announced, the idea of connecting it to the main campus with a pedestrian bridge was briefly considered. The tied-arch Zubizuri Footbridge in Bilbao, Spain was used as an example in the Daily Press and The Captain’s Log of what it could to look like. This particular bridge was probably chosen because the architect, Santiago Calatrava, was partnered with the architectural firm DMJM Design, which designed Age Three’s campus master plan. Calatrava has since gone on to work on other major world projects, including New York World Trade Center’s Oculus Transportation Hub.[54]



Next: CNU Architectural Ages: Age Four (2002 - 2009)

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[40] Miller, Kimberly “CNU’s grand plan,” Daily Press, 17 August 1997.
[41] “Trible talks about past, present, future,” The Captain’s Log, 6 December 1999; Hamilton, Phillip, Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011, First ed., University Press, 2011; Brauer, William L “Building a World-Class University,” Voyages, Summer 2022.
[42] Jelonek, A.J. “The History of the Ferguson,” History Scout, 18 May 2022.
[43] Hamilton, Phillip, Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011, First ed., University Press, 2011.
[44] Ibid.
[45] Daggett, Jessica “Campus makes constructive use of vacation time,” The Captain’s Log, Summer 1999; Zellers, Dave “Campus torn up over construction,” The Captain’s Log, 19 April 1999.
[46] Hamilton, Phillip, Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011, First ed., University Press, 2011.
[47] Ibid.
[48] Zellers, Dave “Campus torn up over construction,” The Captain’s Log, 19 April 1999.
[49] Zagursky, Erin A “Ships run aground: new organization, students clash over memorial,” The Captain’s Log, 29 November 1999.
[50] DiGorgio, Karen “A Rose is a Rose is a Rose,” The Captain’s Log, 12 November 1996.
[51] Holmes, H. Randolph, See the Dome: Exclusive Campus Tour of Christopher Newport University, 2 June 2018 [lecture and campus tour]; Brauer, William L “Building a World-Class University,” Voyages, Summer 2022.
[52] Vaughn, Ellen, Crazy as Hell: The Story of the Transformation of Christopher Newport University, University Press, 2022.
[53] “News about CNU Library ‘wows students, faculty,” Daily Press, 31 January 2001.
[54] Barrett, Stephanie “CNU jumping Warwick,” Daily Press, 21 February 2001; Spain, Hugh “CNU to expand across Warwick,” The Captain’s Log, 27 February 2001; N.a. “Governors Pataki and McGreevey: Renowned Architect Santiago Calatrava to present design for World-class Transportation Hub at Wolf Trade Center Site on January 22,” 7 January 2004, https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/press-room/press-release-archives/2004_press_releases/governors_patakiandmcgreeveyrenownedarchitectsantiagocalatravato.html.