Richard Bland College AIC Grand Opening
For Immediate Release: September 6, 2024
Contact: Jesse Vaughan, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer/jvaughan@rbc.edu
The grand opening for the Richard Bland College Academic Innovation Center (AIC) is set for Thursday, September 19 at 1:30 p.m. Outfitted with cutting-edge technology like one-button recording studios and Esports arenas, the AIC will house the college’s new Online Education Center and serve as a long-awaited Student Commons.
Designed by RRMM Architects and funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the AIC embodies innovation in every sense of the word. This 24,000 square foot innovation center, which connects to the freshly renovated college library, features a host of modern classrooms, offices and collaboration spaces. Skyfold walls—partitions that fold and retract vertically—are in place to enable maximum flexibility in the configuration of customizable spaces that align with utilization.
“Everything in the entire building is flexible,” said RBC Chief Operating Officer Eric Kondzielawa, who oversaw the $17 million project. “Everything glides or is on wheels; everything is movable.”
Kondzielawa, who is a licensed contractor, has overseen the renovation and repurposing of more than 150,000 square feet of RBC’s campus since 2013.
The College’s 2014 Facilities Master Plan conceptualized physical space that would support a bold strategic plan focused on innovation. The decade-long process to get the AIC built was laborious, especially due to complications posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But eventually, Kondzielawa received the green light to start construction, which began in October 2022 and concluded in April of this year.
“The Academic Innovation Center is the crowning glory of the College’s physical transformation,” RBC President Debbie L. Sydow said. “Situated at the center, at the very heart of campus, this space personifies Richard Bland College as the premier model for innovation in higher education and workforce development.”
The Center will be available to RBC partners such as DroneUp—a leading Virginia-based drone flight services innovator and aviation technology provider—and other local businesses and organizations for meetings, seminars and trainings. The Center will also accommodate tenants of the new Business Innovation Park on campus.
“The rooms are all sleek and modern-looking,” RBC Head Librarian Tim Hurley said. “It’s really modernizing this building—it’s exciting.”
Richard Bland College is in a class of its own as the only junior college in Virginia. The value proposition is clear—by completing the first two years of college at RBC, in addition to saving money to help fund baccalaureate degree completion, the educational experience deepens self-knowledge and prepares students for transfer to more than 40 universities across the Commonwealth.
