• 5-Story Addition to Tufts U. Building Earns LEED Silver, Plus Construction Award (ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge photo)

• U. of Rhode Island Plans $42-Million Residence Hall to House 429 Students

• Work Is Under Way on $4.6-Millon Ashford U. Athletic Complex

• Column Capitals Are Crumbling on Jefferson's Rotunda at the U. of Virginia

• Georgetown U. Begins Construction of $100-Million Science Center (Payette rendering)

• U. of Iowa May Lease Apartments to House Record-Setting Freshman Class

• $18-Million Library Annex Houses Special Collections at U. of South Carolina

• Massachusetts Instititute of Technology Aims to Reduce Energy Usage by 15 Pct.

A $1-million gift will enable struggling Paul Quinn College to demolish 13 buildings it has abandoned on a Dallas campus it took over in 1990. According to The Dallas Morning News, most of the abandoned buildings are located near the entrance to the campus, which the 138-year-old historically black institution acquired after Bishop College closed, in 1988.

When Paul Quinn moved to the campus from Waco, Tex., it had about 1,000 students, but it had only 150 students during this year's spring semester. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools prepared to withdraw the college's accreditation last year, citing financial and academic difficulties, but the college subsequently sued the association in federal court, and the case is not expected to go to trial before next year, the Morning News said. In the meantime the college remains accredited.

The $1-million donation comes from...

• Tuskegee U. Will Break Ground for $20-Million Academic-Residential Complex (Tuskegee U. rendering)

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• Foundation Donates $39-Million Office Building for U. of Wisconsin's School of Medicine

• An Architect and His 2 Small Sons Visit the Shapiro Campus Center at Brandeis U.

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.

Building Type: Science

Construction Type: New

Cost: $47.5-million

Square Footage: 62,300

Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Contractor: Rudolph and Sletten

Opened: 2010

This facility houses research groups in synthetic chemistry and chemical engineering, enabling new studies of catalysis, materials, and the atmosphere. The lab features an eco-conscious design and is intended to earn LEED gold certification. Floor-to-ceiling windows maximize natural lighting, illuminating 90 percent of the labs and providing panoramic campus views. Designed with flexibility in mind, the building's highly specialized research areas can be reconfigured as necessary. The building also has an abundance of Waldner ventilated chemical fume hoods, providing a high ratio of workstations per student or researcher.

(Photo: Mike Rogers)

Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa.

Building Type: Athletics

Construction Type: New

Cost: $27-million

Square Footage: 55,000

Architect: Cannon Design

Contractor: Kinsley Construction Inc.

Opened: 2009

Connected to the college's existing Bream/Wright/Hauser athletic facility, this new building features a natatorium with eight competition lanes, a five-lane warm-up pool, and 375-seat spectator gallery; a 10,000-square-foot weight and fitness room; and multipurpose spaces for aerobics, yoga, and the like. As part of the project, an athletic training room was renovated and a Hydroworx therapy pool was added. Also included in the project are facilities for campus recreation and experiential-education programs, including a bouldering area and climbing wall. The building earned LEED gold certification.

(Photos: Gettysburg College)

Does your ...

• Johns Hopkins Nears End of 3-Year, $73-Million Gilman Hall Renovation (Will Kirk photo)

• Developers Propose Mixed-Use Project Beside Temple U.

• U. of Nottingham, in England, Will Build a Straw-Bale Biosciences Building

• U. of Florida Completes a New Administrative Building on Eastside Campus

Construction of a new facility for dance and theater students at the State U. of New York at Potsdam is expected to begin next year. (Pfeiffer Partners Architects renderings)

The State University of New York at Potsdam is planning a $33-million performing-arts center whose exterior will call to mind the jagged Adirondack peaks of the North Country, and whose interior aims to create a lively urban space joining the new facility to an existing music-school building.

The building, which will give the university's dance and theater students their first purpose-built spaces, was designed by Pfeiffer Partners Architects Inc. In the design process, say architects who have worked on the project, they divided the spaces that would need high ceilings (such as performance spaces and the scene shop) from those that did not (such as classrooms and offices). The low-ceiling spaces were then...

• U. of Massachusetts at Lowell Breaks Ground for Technology Center (U. of Massachusetts at Lowell rendering)

• U. of Michigan Adopts LEED Silver Standards for All Buildings

• Illinois State U. Starts Renovations on 28-Story Watterson Towers (read an earlier blog post here)

• U. of Minnesota at Rochester Will House Students in Former Hotel

• Illinois State U. Plans to Open Fitness Center in January (Illinois State U. rendering)

• U. of Georgia Puts $12-Million Into Renovating Its Coliseum

• U. of Tennessee at Knoxville Will Add Clock to Tower of Building Finished 89 Years Ago

• Simpson U. Is Closer to Building a Baseball Stadium