Options for Levis Faculty Center being explored
By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu
University staff members are exploring ways to revitalize Levis Faculty Center while honoring the wishes of the donors who made its construction possible. The faculty center was constructed in 1971 at the corner of Illinois Street and Gregory Drive and named in honor of William E. and Margaret H. Levis, UI alumni and members of the UI Foundation. At that time, a grassroots “committee of 100” faculty and staff members had been rallying financial support for a faculty center for more than a decade, after the homes that housed the faculty men’s club and faculty women’s club were torn down prior to the construction of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The committee raised $200,000 from faculty and staff members. When Margaret Levis pledged $1 million – with the contingency that the university raise another $600,000 within a year – the committee, with additional support from the University Club and UI Foundation, was able to get the center built. Levis is administered by a nonprofit corporation, Levis Faculty Center Sponsors Inc. However, unlike faculty clubs at some universities, Levis does not have endowment support and has been struggling financially for several years, steadily dipping into its cash reserves and unable to invest in facility updates, said Bill Adams, associate provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.
In addition to providing meeting space for conferences, receptions and other events, Levis provided regular lunch and dinner services for the campus during the 1970s, but the meal services were discontinued when they failed to attract enough customers. During the ’80s and ’90s, Levis tried to lure in patrons with happy hours that featured hors d’oeuvre buffets, cocktails and live piano music, but none of these events attracted enough steady business either. “It’s really just one of those situations where the dream was never realized,” Adams said. “When Levis was built, we thought we were building something state of the art but really missed the mark. People don’t want to use the structure because it has few windows, and it’s dark inside and not very pleasant. We’ve had complaints from parents who thought it was not a desirable place for campus visits by new and prospective students.” In December 2004, the Levis board was asked to conduct a facility review and offer recommendations about its operations and administration. The board concluded that the facility’s current programming will not allow it to remain financially viable and recommended that the corporation be dissolved and that the university administer Levis. The board had wanted to consult the Levis family about the legacy and the center’s operations but could not locate any living family members.
The board reported that the building, designed to be a faculty club, has not worked well for other uses and substantial renovations are needed. The building has poor lighting, inadequate restroom facilities for large gatherings and needs updates to make it handicapped accessible and to incorporate technology such as wireless access. The kitchen and its equipment, leased by Classic Events Catering to provide food and beverage service, is deteriorating and needs substantial updates that the facility cannot afford.
In June, the Chancellor’s Capital Review Committee requested that the Facilities & Services Division conduct an architectural study to examine alternative uses for the building and provide cost projections on making it more functional, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. University officials also will need to determine what to do with its occupants, such as the Campus Visitors Center and Classic Events Catering, an independent contractor that is Levis’ largest single source of revenue. Levis has a couple of longtime employees, and a primary concern of the board was that the university “extend every accommodation possible” to help them find jobs within the civil-service and university systems. The Levis board is scheduled to meet again late this fall. The longtime chair is Harry Hilton, a professor emeritus of aerospace engineering and senior academic lead for Computational Structural Mechanics at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications who was a member of the original planning committee. Regardless of how the building’s appearance or usage may change in the future, Adams said there will continue to be a faculty center on campus and the building will retain the Levis name. Operations at Levis probably will continue as they are for at least another year while university officials review the architectural study and determine how best to use the facility.
