ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996                TAG: 9608230089
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS

I.M. PEI'S FIRM TO DESIGN ARTS CENTER

The firm of renowned architect I.M. Pei will design a performing arts center at Christopher Newport University.

A university search committee chose the New York firm of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners from among six finalists.

The firm's high-profile projects have included the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the expansion of the Louvre museum in Paris.

University President Paul Trible said he wants the first performance in the concert hall-theater complex to take place Dec. 31, 1999.

A feasibility study will be finished in two months, Trible said. The project is scheduled to go to bid in January 1998 and take 20 months to build.

The General Assembly has approved $5 million in construction bonds for the project, and the Newport News City Council has pledged to add $5.6 million.

- Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   28 lines