Construction at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s expansion is progressing, with university leaders gathering with students on Friday to celebrate the latest construction milestone.
UNC hosted a “topping off” ceremony for Steven D. Bell Hall, which saw the final steel beam of the structure put into place high above the ground. Before a crane picked up and helped secure it into the building’s shell, the Kenan-Flagler community members gathered to sign their names and leave messages on the beam.
Kenan-Flagler Business School Dean Mary Margaret Frank spoke at Friday’s ceremony before the I-beam was lifted into place, saying she had her mentors from the school in mind as she signed the metal.
“UNC Kenan-Flagler gave me a network of mentors — both faculty, staff, and peers — that helped me to grow and become much more than I thought I could be,” Frank said.
“I look forward,” she later added, “to the opportunity for more people to have their own experience and extend that UNC Kenan-Flagler network [with this building.]”
People sign the final steel beam installed for Steven D. Bell Hall at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Kenan-Flagler community members gather on the business school’s parking deck for a ceremony, while construction on Bell Hall continues on Friday, April 26, 2024.
Bell Hall, which broke ground in the fall of 2022, represents a major increase in space and resources for UNC’s acclaimed business school. The building will have 5,400 square feet for instruction, meetings and events — including 16 flexible classrooms that will be equipped for hybrid and online teaching. Once complete, the business school expects to admit 50 percent more Carolina students to its undergraduate business program and will see all levels of students take classes in Bell Hall.
With major expansion comes major investment — something both Frank and UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts pointed to on Friday. They each credited North Carolina’s General Assembly for providing more than half of the funding necessary for the expansion, while private donors racked up a new record for the Chapel Hill campus of gifts to benefit one specific building.
“UNC Kenan-Flagler graduates are an enormous economic powerhouse for this state,” said Frank, “as they make the communities grow stronger, start new companies, provide good jobs, and develop products that improve our lives — and we are honored that the state legislature sees the positive economic impact that this building will have on the state.”
“[The university] asked for support and our partners really responded,” Roberts said during his remarks. “Along with the $105 million that North Carolina’s taxpayers contributed to this project, we received $93 million from private donors. That greatly boosted the efficiency and the effectiveness of this project.”
Construction workers for Bell Hall look out from the structure to the topping off ceremony held by UNC.
A rendering of Steven D. Bell Hall from the direction of William Blythe Drive (Rendering via UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.)
A model of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School once the Bell Hall expansion is complete.
The interim chancellor said he believes that investment by both the legislature and individuals is a model example of how public-private partnerships can work to increase the impact of the university.
“They increase access to resources, funding, expertise and technology,” he said, “allowing us to improve infrastructure, research, innovation and educational opportunities. By working together, public universities and private companies can address challenges more effectively.
“This,” Roberts concluded, “is what it means to be a public university: serving the community and preparing leaders for the solutions of tomorrow. And now, we have the long-needed space to train and teach even more students, and spur economic growth in our state.”
With its construction update, UNC Kenan-Flagler said the expansion is on track to meet the university’s Three Zeros sustainability initiative based on Bell Hall’s design — meaning it is meeting targets for having net zero water consumption, zero waste to landfills, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The business school said it aims to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council and three stars from Fitwel with Bell Hall’s construction as well.
Steven D. Bell Hall will aim to be open for its students, faculty and staff by the start of the 2025-26 academic year, according to UNC, after which renovations will begin to Kenan-Flagler’s existing McColl Building.
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