LEXINGTON -- Virginia Military Institute is modernizing its campus to attract the next generation of cadets. But it's doing so in a way that's mindful of long-held traditions at the pre-Civil War era school.

That's why a $300 million renovation of the campus is careful to contain few upgrades to the Spartan living quarters that are a cornerstone of VMI barracks life.

"That's just the tradition at VMI," said Marshall Mundy, a class of 1956 graduate. "Alumni would revolt if the place became a country club."

Mundy, a Roanoke lawyer who is a member of the school's board of visitors, acknowledges that VMI can be a tough place, but the payoff in the sense of honor and accomplishment that graduates earn is worth it.

"I've heard it said it's a hell of a place to be but a great place to be from," he said.

Changing the VMI culture has always been frowned upon by school officials and alumni. Except for installing electricity in the original barracks building in 1912, the biggest change to a cadet's lifestyle has been the admission of women to the once all-male school in 1997 and allowing cadets to have computers with Internet access in their rooms.

Cadets have to walk outside and down the hall to get to the bathrooms. Only senior cadets and junior cadets who have earned their class rings are allowed to have cellphones in their rooms.

The old barracks, repaired in 1865 after being pummeled by cannon fire during the Civil War, is a National Historic Landmark.

So as renovations to classrooms and the mess hall include air conditioning, labs receive wireless technology and athletic fields are overhauled, life in the barracks won't change much.

As many as five or six cadets can live in one room, sleeping on fold-up wooden cots with thin mattresses that are rolled up during the day to maximize living space.

"We're very proud of the Spartan way we live," said Sal Sferrazza, a 24-year-old cadet who is regimental commander of the corps of cadets. "We're getting the amenities we need. A nice clean room, furniture that's decent, things of that nature."

"It's really made me realize how much I took for granted back home," said Roger Leonhart, a 20-year-old cadet from Maryland and the school's regimental sergeant major. "I've learned a lot about being a man from this school."

Preserving the barracks, said Mundy, is just as crucial as the state-supported school's other long-held traditions.

"It's sort of like the rat line. The rat line and the honor system are very central to the purpose of VMI," he said. "These construction upgrades and the development are not going to change that. And it's just very important to the tradition of producing graduates who are citizen soldiers."

Lejeune Hall, which once housed the student center, was recently torn down, and an addition to the barracks will be built in its place. It's the first step in a plan to gradually expand the cadet corps from about 1,300 to 1,500 starting in 2010. The additional space will reduce the number of cadets assigned to a room.

Planners have also taken care to make sure the architecture of new buildings on campus blend in with the older ones.

In all, the multimillion-dollar building campaign is part of what VMI Superintendent J.H. Binford Peay III has dubbed Vision 2039. That's the year the school celebrates its bicentennial.

"What we're trying to do here is make sure that VMI is prepared to meet the educational needs of the students for the next century," said Col. Walt Chalkley, Peay's chief of staff.

The renovation and expansion of Crozet Hall, VMI's mess hall, has been completed, and the school's physical plant has been relocated off campus. That will pave the way for an expansion of Kilbourne Hall, the school's ROTC building.

The revamped facility will be "the finest ROTC complex in the nation," Chalkley said.

A new field house with an aquatic facility is also part of the plan.

VMI wants to reaffirm its role as a developer of leaders, both in the military and corporate world.

When the school breaks ground soon on a $21 million Leadership and Ethics Center, VMI officials say the new facility will be the kind of place that attracts top-notch guest speakers, conferences and symposiums to further that goal.

"It's going to give us a new capability," Chalkley said.

The leadership center is part of an unprecedented campaign by VMI to modernize and expand its academic, athletic and military facilities. At no other time in the school's 167-year history have there been so many changes to the campus.

"I think it's probably the most exciting development that I've known at VMI in my lifetime," Mundy said.

The center will include a 500-seat auditorium, banquet seating for 1,000, and meeting rooms suitable for symposiums and major conferences. It will be built on what is now a parking lot behind Smith Hall, VMI's main administrative building, and the George C. Marshall Foundation.

"This is going to give VMI an opportunity to host what we consider world-class speakers to further our leadership development program," Chalkley said. "All major universities have that capability. Well, we're trying to have that for VMI as well. We want to be a school that's known for this stuff."

VMI recently completed a nearly $15 million renovation of the school's football stadium, Alumni Memorial Field. Earlier this month, it was renamed Foster Stadium in honor of P. Wesley Foster Jr., a 1956 VMI graduate who provided financial support for the project. Foster is chairman and chief executive officer of the Long & Foster Cos., which operates Long & Foster Real Estate, the largest privately owned real estate brokerage firm in the nation.

Two soccer fields, one to be built on top of a new parking deck, and a renovation of the school's baseball stadium are also part of the plan, as are upgrades to military training areas.

Building costs have risen dramatically since Peay first spoke of the plan in 2003.

"When we started three years ago, the price tag to do all the stuff that we're talking about was about $150 million. In today's dollars it's already over $300 million," Chalkley said.

VMI still has about $105 million to raise to cover all the building costs. Some $50 million is coming from Virginia taxpayers for the barracks project.

"This is just really a massive renovation and construction program, which I think will align VMI with the best institutions of our education in the country," Mundy said.

On the Net: www.vmi.edu