Boston College Set To Open New $78M Academic Building

For the first time in 45 years, Boston College will soon open a new academic facility on the main part of its Chestnut Hill campus.

BC officials say that the $78 million Stokes Hall, the school’s most expensive educational building ­ever, represents an investment in the humanities and a bet in the ­future of bricks-and-mortar higher education. It is opening as many insti­tutions, students, and families are questioning the value of liberal arts studies in a struggling economy and amid the soaring cost of college.

“Nationally, everyone is sensitive to the economic realities over the last several years,” said David ­Quigley, dean of the university’s School of Arts and Sciences. “But Boston College has proven over the last 150 years the value of a liberal arts education, and you see so many parents who recognize that, who see Boston College as a wise investment.”

The building’s namesake, Patrick T. Stokes, who has ­donated $22 million toward the facility, earned a degree in math from BC in 1964.