CAMPUS IS ABOUT TO EXPAND -- AGAIN. JMU and Rockingham Memorial Hospital have agreed in principle for JMU to purchase the hospital, which will move to a new site.

Gov. Mark Warner's budget released in December includes funding for the project in his budget proposals that went to the Virginia General Assembly in January. The $50.6 million purchase was approved by the JMU Board of Visitors and the RMH Board of Directors and is contingent on approval by the Virginia General Assembly. The hospital, located on Cantrell Avenue and Mason Street adjacent to JMU's campus, consists of 15.8 acres, nine buildings and two parking decks.

RMH officials announced in September plans to construct a new facility on a larger site to meet the area's growing health-care needs. Since the announcement of RMH plans to construct new facilities, JMU and hospital officials have been discussing the possibility of JMU acquiring the existing hospital.

The governor's budget proposal calls for $40.6 million of the $50.6 million purchase price to come from the state's general fund. The remaining $10 million would come from funds raised by JMU through its auxiliary operations (nonacademic operational areas).

While the new hospital is being planned and constructed over the next five years, JMU will evaluate possible uses of the existing facilities, says JMU President Linwood H. Rose.

Rose says the property will likely be used as a combination of academic space, administrative office space, student services and parking.

Because of the university's rapid growth over the last decade, classroom space is at a premium, and many faculty and staff members occupy either modular offices or space never intended for use as offices, Rose says. The addition of the RMH property will allow the university to ease its critical lack of space for current operations. The two hospital parking decks containing more than 1,000 spaces combined will help JMU with its current parking needs and allow more convenient access to Carrier Library, events in Wilson Hall Auditorium and other venues at the center of campus.

Rose says JMU also wants to help RMH achieve its goal of modernizing its facilities and services. RMH President Carter Melton and the RMH Board of Directors stated the hospital must relocate to provide continued excellent health care to the growing area.

"That will benefit all of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham community," Rose says.

-- Fred Hilton ('96M, '95P, '98P)