AU is set to begin as many as five major campus construction projects within the next two years, according to Jerry Gager, the university's director of facilities planning and development. These capital improvements will leave the campus with one new building, two renovated buildings, an expanded student union and possibly a new dorm.
Nebraska Hall dorm conversion
The Human Resources department will be moving from Nebraska Hall to 3201 New Mexico Ave., NW, which is currently being renovated through March, according to Gager.
When Human Resources leaves Nebraska Hall, the building will be entirely empty, Gager said. AU will begin a feasibility study to convert Nebraska Hall back to a residence hall.
The feasibility study will look at the possibility of building single residence rooms in the hall, Gager said. Nebraska Hall was once a Baptist nursing home and then housed graduate students when the university took it over. The work for the conversion would happen between 2007 and 2009.
Mary Graydon Center/Terrace Dining Room extension
The existing bridge from the quad to the Butler Pavilion will be knocked down and the first and terrace levels of Mary Graydon Center will be expanded into this space, Gager said.
This project will go out for construction bids soon and will totally enclose that area and expand TDR in its northeast corner.
David Grossman, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, thinks the TDR extension is not needed.
"A TDR extension sounds unnecessary. We need new places to eat on campus, not larger places," he said.
New School of International Service Building
The School of International Service will receive an entirely new building, built on the parking lot currently adjacent to Bender Library.
The building won zoning approval recently, according to SIS dean Louis Goodman. With zoning approval, the building can undergo its final detailed design and is scheduled for a 2009 opening.
"This building was created nearly 50 years ago when the idea was that the school would have at a maximum 400 students and 25 faculty members," Goodman said. "We now have well over 2,500 students and 100 faculty."
At one point, faculty offices were spread throughout more then a dozen buildings, Goodman said, causing "a problem to maintain our identity."
To alleviate the problem, SIS was given Clark Hall to use as office space, although faculty still have offices in more then half a dozen buildings, Goodman said.
McKinley renovation
If all goes according to plans, Gager said, construction to convert McKinley into the new home of the School of Communication will begin in June 2007 and finish, in the "best case," by 2009.
The old McKinley building will "be gutted and that's okay," Gager said. The wood frame of the building will also have to be removed.
"Having a building [for] the SOC will give us more of an identify on campus and within the community," said Merry Mendelson, SOC's assistant dean for student services.
According to Mendelson, the building will be very technologically advanced. "We have a chance to look at technology and where communication is going," she said. In the end, Mendelson said the new building will be "a very exciting place."
Kogod expansion
The interior of the Butler Instructional Center will be demolished, as will the staircase between Butler and the Kogod School of Business, Gager said. Kogod will then expand into the renovated space. Construction is expected to start in "summer 2007 with a mid-2008 finish date," he said.
The new building will be mostly instructional space and the first floor will have a lounge, Gager said.
Philip Wyks, a freshman in the Kogod School of Business, thinks that the building needs more space. "They definitely need a bigger facility for classes, so students are in one building," he said.
The extension will "help promote our program to incoming students," said Jennifer Frey, director of marketing for Kogod. She called the building "a great opportunity for students to have additional space for learning"
