Williams School construction starts with demolition of old dorms—and minor explosions

Williams School construction site at Washington and Lee university.

At the beginning of the year, construction on the long-awaited Williams School was already well underway.

“We’ve needed spaces like this for a long time,” said Linda Hooks, head of the economics department and a Williams School professor.

Washington and Lee has been experiencing a classroom shortage in recent years, creating challenges for students and professors alike as enrollment in business administration and economics majors has grown.

The programs accounted for nearly 40% of the graduating class of 2022, according to U.S. News and World Report. And after the university enrolled its biggest first-year class yet, professors say the construction of the new Williams School is coming right on time.

The new Williams School building, located across the street from Graham-Lees dorm, will feature 10 state-of-the-art classrooms and over 45 offices, according to the master plan the university approved in 2021.

Much like the Harte Center, the new Williams School will offer collaborative spaces equipped with flexible, mobile furniture that creates dynamic and creative learning spaces for students, Said Tom Kalasky, executive director of university facilities.

Students can expect to see foundational and structural elements of the building taking shape over the winter and into the spring. The entire project is set to be completed in the summer of 2025.

Updates to the Williams School won’t end there. After the new building comes online, a complete “gut and rebuild” of Huntley Hall will follow, Kalasky wrote in an email to the Phi.

This renovation will include opening up the center of the building as a large lobby area, Hooks said.

The new Williams School building will hold many classes while Huntley Hall is undergoing renovations.

However, like any large-scale university project, there have been some setbacks. On Sept. 29, Bri Shuttlewood, ’27, saw two explosions at the construction site that sent debris into the air.

“Next thing you know, we are walking back and there are fire trucks and the whole street was blocked off,” she said.

Emergency vehicles responded quickly, and there was no indication of any serious safety concerns for the student body. Construction resumed on schedule the following Monday.

For some students living in first-year residence halls near the construction site, the noise and early morning work have been a minor inconvenience.

This hasn’t affected me too much as I’m an early riser… but it can get annoying,” said Gaby White, ’27, who lives in Graham-Lees.

On days when her first class is not until 3:15 p.m., White has been woken up as early as 6 a.m. because of the loud machinery.

But many students with business-related majors say the long-awaited benefits of the new Williams School building will soon outweigh the inconveniences.

Rebecca Nason, ’25, a politics major, has high hopes for those who will get to use the building.

“If we have the space and infrastructure, we will be able to expand these programs in a way that doesn’t exist right now,” Nason said.

Written in association with the Ring Tum Phi, visit the article here.