Get updates on UDC and the Van Ness retail study at Feb. 15 meeting

The Student Center is the only UDC building that does not need modernization.

Most of UDC’s buildings are more than 40 years old. Their heating and cooling systems are showing their age – and rendering UDC’s largest building unusable.

Thomas E. Redmond, UDC’s director of State and Local Affairs, tells Forest Hills Connection that the school is “completely abandoning” Building 41, which houses UDC’s College of Arts and Sciences and its library, “as we can no longer provide the proper environment for our faculty, staff and students.”

UDC began moving classes, staff and students from Building 41 this semester, and once that’s done, work will begin.

The problems with heating and cooling are not limited to Building 41, however.

“There has not been any significant investment in that infrastructure and thus we have classrooms & offices that cannot be adequately heated or cooled,” Redmond said in an email.

In addition, he said, many classrooms lack modern technology. “To do these repairs & upgrades requires a complete shutdown of a building for 12-18 months per building and this work must be done for all the Van Ness buildings except the new Student Center,” Redmond said.

UDC will discuss its modernization plans and swing space needs at the next meeting of The University of the District of Columbia Community-Campus Task Force on Thursday, February 15th. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., in Bldg. 44, A-03. These meetings are always open to the community and all are encouraged to attend.

The agenda also includes updates on student enrollment and housing, and on the retail study commissioned by UDC, Van Ness Main Street and Bernstein Management, which now owns 4250 Connecticut Avenue.

If you have any questions about the meeting or concerns, contact Thomas E. Redmond, Director, State and Local Affairs at 202-274-5622 or [email protected].