page_title: The Rotunda (University of Virginia)
section_title: Alterations
hierarchical_section_title: The Rotunda (University of Virginia) / History / Alterations
caption_attribution_description: English: I took photo with Canon camera at the Univ. of VA of construction on the Routunda.
context_page_description: The Rotunda is a building located on The Lawn on the original grounds of the University of Virginia. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson to represent the "authority of nature and power of reason" and was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Construction began in 1822 and was completed shortly after Jefferson's death in 1826. The grounds of the new university were unique in that they surrounded a library housed in the Rotunda rather than a church, as was common at other universities in the English-speaking world. The Rotunda is seen as a lasting symbol of Jefferson's belief in the separation of church and education, as well as his lifelong dedication to both education and architecture. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and is part of the landmark University of Virginia Historic District, designated in 1971.
  The collegiate structure, the immediate area around it, and Jefferson's nearby home at Monticello combine to form one of only four modern man-made sites in the United States to be internationally protected and preserved as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
  The original construction cost of the Rotunda was $57,773.
context_section_description: A structure called the Annex, also known as "New Hall," was added to the north side of the Rotunda in 1853 to provide additional classroom space needed due to overcrowding. (A rare photograph of the Annex may be viewed at the University of Virginia's online visual history collection.)
  In 1895, the Rotunda was entirely gutted by a disastrous fire that started in the Annex.  University students saved what was, for them, the most important item within the Rotunda — a life-size likeness of Thomas Jefferson carved from marble that was given to the University by Alexander Galt in 1861. The students also rescued a portion of the books of the University library from the Dome Room, as well as various scientific instruments from the classrooms in the Annex. Shortly after the fire, the faculty drew up a recommendation to the Board of Visitors, recommending a program of rebuilding that called for the reconstruction of the Rotunda and the replacement of the lost classroom space of the Annex with a set of buildings at the south end of the Lawn. In the new design, the wooden dome was replaced with a fireproof tile dome by the Guastavino Company of New York in 1898-1899. The Rotunda was rebuilt with a modified design by Stanford White, a nationally known architect and partner in the New York City firm McKim, Mead, and White .  Whereas Jefferson's Rotunda had three floors, White's had only two, but a larger Dome Room.  In addition, the Annex was not rebuilt.
  In 1976 during America's Bicentennial, White's Rotunda interior was gutted and completely rebuilt, at a cost of $2.4 million, to Jefferson's original design.  In the Bicentennial issue of the AIA Journal, the American Institute of Architects called Jefferson's Rotunda, Lawn, and nearby home at Monticello "the proudest achievement of American architecture in the past 200 years".
  There is a plaque, on the south side of the Rotunda, listing the names of students and graduates of The University who were killed during the Civil War. Other plaques on the south side list those killed during World War I while plaques on the north side list those killed in World War II and the Korean War.
  Today, doctoral students defend their dissertations in the North Oval Room, and many events (including monthly dinners for residents of the Lawn) are held inside the Dome Room. Other important events are held on the steps of the Rotunda, which is also the traditional starting point for students streaking the Lawn.
  In 2012, the University began an extensive construction project to repair and renovate the aging Rotunda. The first phase of the project replaced the Rotunda's copper roof. Although the engineers were several months ahead of schedule, the roof remained an unpainted copper for the graduating class of 2013. During the renovation, a nineteenth-century chemistry laboratory was found within the walls on the bottom floor featuring a chemical hearth and a sophisticated ventilation system through a series of brick tunnels. The newly renovated Rotunda opened in September 2016.
caption: Renovation underway on the Rotunda in 2011, with the Thomas Jefferson statue in the foreground
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