Shown (from left) are: Joe Colella, Pace student government president; Mark Besca, chairman, Pace board; Vanya Quiñones, Pace Provost; Nira Herrmann, dean, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Pace; John Byrne, faculty/Pace board; Marvin Krislov, president, Pace University; Ibi Yolas, vice president, facilities and capital projects, Pace University; Marijo Russell-O’Grady, associate vice president and dean for students, Pace NYC; and Jean Gallagher, vice president, Pace Strategic Initiatives.
Manhattan, NY Pace University has opened the newly transformed spaces in its downtown campus structure, One Pace Plaza, and the adjacent historic building, 41 Park Row, the original home of the New York Times, in a ribbon cutting ceremony on January 28th. This ribbon cutting signifies the completion of $45 million phase 1 of the $190 million project. FXCollaborative was the project architect.
“This is a great moment for Pace University, for our students, faculty, and staff, and for our neighbors,” said Marvin Krislov, Pace’s president. “Our transformed spaces at One Pace Plaza and 41 Park Row replace concrete walls with glass ones and open Pace up to N.Y. We’re connecting with our community and helping our students look toward their futures.”
The campus buildings, across from City Hall park and at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, have undergone extensive modernization and technology upgrades as part of Pace’s NYC Master Plan, creating more effective spaces for the university community. The renovations began in the summer of 2017 and were made possible by generous donors, including successful Pace Alumni. The 55,000 s/f in renovations focused on the lower floors of One Pace Plaza, built in 1969, and 41 Park Row, originally constructed in 1857. The revitalized structures include classrooms, collaborative learning areas, student and faculty lounges, event spaces, a new student center and café, administrative offices and a new public art gallery for student artwork.
“We’re bold and big thinkers at Pace University,” said Mark Besca ’81, chairman of the board of trustees. “As we’re moving into the new, digital frontiers of artificial intelligence and big data, it’s clear that the tech companies transforming the world will need the talented professionals that Pace produces. With these new facilities, we’re ready to help drive NY into the next century.”
“This brand new space opens up new possibilities for students and faculty to collaborate and for all New Yorkers to benefit,” said Manhattan borough president, Gale Brewer who has been an ardent supporter of Pace. Brewer spoke of the new spaces as a means for Pace to even more effectively carry out the role of universities in providing opportunities for public educational events, discussions and debates.
“What this space has come to be to us students is more than a new set of rooms,” said Pace Student Government Association president Joseph Colella, whose father, uncle, aunt and cousin are all Pace alumni. “Space is where we find someone and get the guts to ask them about that book they’re reading. It’s where we pass a rival giving a great presentation, fueling our need to work harder. It’s where you spend a couple of all-nighters pulling together your thesis with some tired friends. Simply put – it’s where you find someone and it’s where you find yourself.”
The opening of the newly renovated Manhattan campus is part of an overall transformation of Pace University’s campuses. In 2016, Pace put the finishing touches on a $100 million transformation of its Pleasantville campus.
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