Formerly known as Engineering Building Oval, the new building on Centennial Campus has officially been named Fitts-Woolard Hall, after alumni Edward Fitts Jr. and Edgar Woolard Jr. donated the largest gift given for the naming of a building on campus in NC State’s history.
Fitts and Woolard gave the school $25 million toward the naming and construction of the project. Construction officially began for Fitts-Woolard Hall at the groundbreaking ceremony on April 20.
According to Lora Bremer, the executive director for major gifts and campaign planning for the engineering foundation, the project has a budget of $154 million. Bremer, who is in charge of organizing funding for the project, said that the Fitts-Woolard gift took care of a good portion of funds that needed to be raised by the university.
“It’s a $154 million budget for the building, and the [Connect NC] bond referendum that was passed in [May] 2016 — the state provided pretty much half of the funds,” Bremer said. “We also have design money, and we were charged with raising $60 million for the building, and we have about $14 million to go after the Fitts-Woolard gift.”
Jackie Gonzalez, a political science graduate of the class of 2018 and former student body president of NC State, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Fitts-Woolard Hall in April. Gonzalez said she is excited for the gift given by Fitts and Woolard.
“I think it’s really amazing that someone has decided — a family — to give so much money to the university for this,” Gonzalez said. “I think that anytime someone makes a really large donation, I think it serves as a reminder to people that you don’t have to give a million dollars, that you can as a student or as a recent alumni or a member of the community you can play your part significantly.”
The construction will be a fixture on Centennial Campus for approximately two years. Some students, like Alex Chen, a 2018 aerospace engineering graduate, are worried about the aesthetic impact the construction will have on Centennial.
“I thought that it was sad that they closed off that portion of the oval,” Chen said. “That’s where we used to play soccer, or football or the Indian students played cricket. It’s flatter and a bigger grassy area. Aesthetically it makes the oval look less pretty but I understand because they have to have somewhere to put construction.”
Jake Barrett a 2018 chemical engineering graduate, had many of his classes on Centennial Campus. Barrett said he is glad that the completion of the engineering buildings will mean that most of the engineering disciplines will be on Centennial Campus.
“I know it’s been a huge hassle for industrial, civil and environmental students to have to split between Main and Centennial,” Barrett said. “It’s like the identity on campus for engineers to be on centennial, so that’s really cool to have three more engineering majors on centennial.”
Gonzalez said she is thankful for the gift from Fitts and Woolard, and wants to encourage more students to take part in giving to the community through philanthropy.
“I know one of the things I did as a student was donate on student giving day,” Gonzalez said. “Every dollar counts whether it’s three or 20 or 25 million. It serves as a good reminder as to why we came to NC State and why we should give back.”
Bremer said that the construction has not caused any major disturbances on Centennial Campus.
“It really doesn’t impact anything over there right now,” Bremer said. “It just makes it more exciting for people to see as they walk around. There’s also a live feed on our website for people to follow along with.”
The project is set to be complete by fall 2020.
