New $106 million facility to be finished in December 2013
The polished shovels and emblazoned hard hats were designed for a ceremonial — yet triumphant — ground breaking of USC’s new Moore School of Business.
The deluge that flooded Columbia Friday morning had other plans, and USC President Harris Pastides and other leaders were left faux-shoveling immovable concrete inside the dry concourse of the Carolina Coliseum.
Still, it was a celebration, one dampened by rain but complete with hundreds of alumni, chocolate-covered cream eclairs and fancy architectural renderings that carefully depicted every square foot of the $106 million new facility, set to be complete in December 2013.
“This will be much more than an imposing edifice,” Pastides said. “It will shape the school into the future.”
The renderings depicted a 252,000 square foot, five-level building that could meet top environmental certifications and will feature several items this university has never seen. Among them: an open-air courtyard and pavilion, a performance hall for the School of Music with a grand piano and large sabal palm trees.
Glass windows will flank all sides. Real-time communication around the globe will be enabled by telepresence. A visitor’s center will greet guests; a digital library will modernize research. And a stock ticker will constantly stream results.
In other words, this is one nice building. Business school dean Hildy Teegen called the facility an “important milestone in the evolution of our school.”
Pastides said construction of the new building, slated to be the most expensive in the university’s history, was inspired by Darla Moore. Moore wasn’t at the ceremony but sent her regrets, according to Pastides.
“Darla Moore doesn’t respond to suggestions of standing pat,” Pastides said. “She’s expecting this building to grow and produce.”