Military School to Get $100M Makeover

LEXINGTON, VA-The Virginia Military Institute has been sending off graduates to service for 164 years, and now it is time for the school to undergo a makeover that will help it accommodate 21st Century demands. VMI officials have recently revealed plans for a $100-million building project that would expand some of the campus’s existing buildings, and construct new facilities, as well. The project–which will involve an estimated 270,000 sf–will redevelop the school into a larger, more pedestrian campus, and it could also change the face of the entrance to Historic Lexington.

VMI occupies about 134 acres at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley off I-81. “There hasn’t been any major construction here in years,” VMI communications director Ken White tells GlobeSt.com. “As the [military] corps grows and as students’ needs change, we need to accommodate.” For the most part, all of the Post’s–the school’s–facilities currently center on the 12-acre parade ground. The expansion plans, however, call for building beyond the circle to the north and the south, and will potentially involve expanding about six buildings, constructing four buildings and creating two new athletic fields.