        |
 Campus Renovations in Full
Swing
 As
the spring semester begins, the campus community
is beginning to enjoy the renovations completed
during winter recess. Most noticeable are the
sprucing up of the Marina Dining Hall and the
make-over of the Wheeler Recreation Center.
"This represents the beginning of several
major renovations projects planned for the campus
in the coming years," said Paul Engemann,
Director of Facilities Management, newly
nicknamed the czar. It shows the University's
commitment toward improving our facilities. The
projects have progressed smoothly and the
co-operation everyone has shown during this first
phase is much appreciated. "As we further
develop the consolidation plans, additional
facilities within the core area of campus will
also be targeted for improvements, including the
upgrading of the heating and air conditioning in
Walstrohm Library and energy efficiency projects
in other buildings, "said Engemann. Special
thanks to Dr. Kyung Hee Chin who heads up the
renovation committee.
Wheeler Recreation
Center:
This 44,000 square foot multi-use recreation
center has not been renovated or updated since
being constructed in 1979. The facility currently
consists of a field house, swimming pool with
adjacent locker rooms and saunas, a small
weight/fitness center and four racquetball
courts. The primary objective of this renovation
project is to create a state of the art fitness
and recreation center that will aid in the
recruitment and retention of students and staff
and also generate revenue through increased
membership.
Outside of the resurfacing of the flooring in
the field house, the first phase of renovations
are near completion. According to John Greene,
the Director of the Center, "The pool is
being resurfaced, the pool house was painted and
new lights were installed. The entire ventilation
system has been upgraded with air conditioning in
the aerobics and fitness areas. Virtually every
area has been impacted and I'm very excited about
the renovations. A new lobby will be installed
with a juice bar area and eventually a new
martial arts studio and fitness area will be
added. It's our hope that with these changes,
more students will use the facilities. These
changes will help meet the health and fitness of
our entire community and they are a vital portion
of the rebirth of the University," Greene
added.
Athletic Director Joe DiPuma foresees a
re-energized intramurals program centering around
Wheeler. "With the renovations, the
athletics programs can help put together more
opportunities for not only the athletes but,
through intra-murals, for the other students as
well. This spring we're trying to put together
basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer
intramurals," said DiPuma. Intramurals
director Bob Buswell can be contacted if students
have an interest in these sports or putting
together other teams.
Project Status: Phase One, which
consists of renovations to the field house and
pool area will be substantially complete by
February 1st (with the exception of the floor
resurfacing which will be completed by July 1st).
Phase Two, which consists of the lobby extension
and fitness center/martial arts studio will be
completed by the beginning of the Fall 2000
semester.
Budget: The total budget is
approximately $650,000.
Marina Dining Hall:
Marina Dining Hall, with its grand vistas of
Seaside Park and the Sound,serves approximately
530 people per day. The 44,000 square foot
facility was originally constructed in the early
1960s and has had very little, if any,
renovations completed since.
The campus consolidation plans call for
relocating the dining facility to the Cox Student
Center. However, this may not happen for some
time. Therefore, renovations aimed at improving
the atmosphere and aesthetics of Marina are
currently being undertaken.
A new drop ceiling and new lighting have been
installed as well as a new fire alarm system,
emergency lighting and exit signs. The walls were
painted and the floor tile repaired. The lobby
area will house art work from the art gallery.
Project Status: Complete
Budget: Approximately $75,000.
Carstenson Hall:
Carstenson Hall (circa 1899) is utilized
as an interfaith center by various religious
groups throughout campus. Fred Carstenson, a
former University Trustee for whom the building
is now named, contributed $150,000 in 1982 for
renovations to the 14,500 square foot building.
Since that time, however, there has been very
little maintenance and virtually no renovation
work completed at the building.
The primary objective of the current renovation
work is to bring the building into compliance
with life safety codes and to complete some very
basic, but much needed, repairs. Substantial
funding will be needed if the building is to ever
be completely renovated.
At or near completion are new exit and emergency
lighting; new fire alarm system; sealing of
penetrations, miscellaneous repairs to the porch,
columns, portico, roof and gutters; painting of
various areas; limited grounds cleanup and tree
pruning. Also, new drop ceiling and lighting in
kitchen and service hall; new entrance lighting;
painting entry walls, stairs and second floor
landing; new carpet in entrance, stairs and
second floor landing.
Project Status: The project is
approximately 90% complete with final completion
scheduled for the next few weeks.
Budget: Approximately $35,000
Library Consolidation:
Several options for consolidating various
administrative and academic programs to the
Wahlstrom Library building have been developed
and are currently being reviewed and refined.
Each renovation project that has been undertaken
or is being planned contains energy efficiency
components. These primarily consist of new energy
efficient lighting, better controls on heating,
ventilation and air conditioning systems and
better energy management systems.
In addition, proposals have been received on a
separate performance based energy efficiency
initiative for several of the buildings in the
core area of campus.
This project also includes improving the
ventilation system in the Wahlstrom Library. It
is hoped that a contract will be awarded for this
work in the near future.
Cortright Hall:
Cortright Hall, almost one hundred years old, has
been used for a variety of functions over the
years but currently only occupies a few people.
It has been decided that, once renovated,
Cortright Hall will provide a much better
location for the Admissions department than their
current location on the 6th floor of the
Wahlstrom Library. Its easily identifiable and
accessible location, along with the character of
the building, will create an atmosphere much more
conducive to the recruitment of students.
"Cortright is a beautiful building that with
the right sprucing up can become a warm and
welcoming building for parents and students who
approach our campus for the first time,"
said Jocelyne Poisson, Dean of Enrollment
Management at UB.
 A new
visitors' parking lot next to Cortright is also
in the works. The idea behind the renovation of
Cortright is to provide an easily accessible and
highly visible welcome point for visitors to the
campus. The newly renovated building and parking
lot will provide visitors a convenient beginning
point in order to visit many of the important
nearby University buildings.
Work on Cortright is slated to begin this spring.
Project Status: The scope of
work and budget is being finalized. Subject to
the availability of funding, it is hoped that
Admissions will occupy the building in spring or
early summer. Construction plans for the parking
lot are completed and work will begin in the
spring.
Budget: The final budget is
still being developed. However, it is expected to
be approximately $125,000 for the building
renovations and $100,000 for the parking lot, ADA
compliant
entrance and related site features (information
sign, parking lot, lighting, etc.)
[UB News Home] [Next Article]
|
