Roberts on UNC physical plan: 'You're never done'
Published October 31, 2024
UNC-Chapel Hill wants to grow its enrollment. At the same time, it has historic, 200-year-old buildings to maintain.
That’s a challenge.
One of the four working groups Chancellor Lee Roberts appointed last spring studied the university’s master plan for its buildings. In the accompanying video, you can tell Roberts has managed big budgets.
“What do we need to do in terms of new construction? And we have a series of plans there,” he says.
Those include the Porthole Alley project on Franklin Street, a Translational Research Building for research – and, of course, how to update or replace the Dean Smith Center, which generates strongopinions. The report cites six possible options – two of them off-campus.1
“And then how do we spend our inherently scarce repair and renovation dollars?” Roberts says in the accompanying video.
“Repair and renovation is something that you never cross off your list. You’re never done. The needs in a given year are always going to be greater than the available dollars.”
The university needs to prioritize its maintenance needs and better understand building use, Roberts says.
“How do you know if you need a new classroom building if you don’t know how well you’re using your existing classroom space? Same thing for lab space, dining space, parking facilities,” he says.
“We need to get better at understanding our capacity utilization and managing that more efficiently.”
