Vice President of Capital Planning and Campus Operations, Steven Krakoff, has high hopes for the renovation of the Robert W. and Patricia A. Maurer Center, formerly known as Hanna Hall. He believes that the new facility to be completed in the summer of 2020 will be a model that will rival top schools across the nation.
Q: Why does the College of Business need moved?
A: As we look forward at the type of learning and teaching that will go on, the current building just doesn’t provide the right kind of environment to enable that to happen. The College of Business is one of our more prominent academic programs, which is why it’s getting this investment. Increasingly, we’re shifting towards a more engaged type of teaching and learning experience in the classrooms. In business, there is a need for certain types of spaces that could not be cost effective provided in the current building. A new building is just simply a much better way to go.
Q: How are students going to benefit from this renovation?
A: Specifically related to the spaces in the building, they will be as cutting edge and as advanced as anything you’ll find in the nation. Presentation technology, flexibility, the ability to provide spaces that are going to be more like what they are going to be working in, what they’ll graduate into. It will not be a classic, traditional, academic building. This will be very different.
Q: What are you hoping for the University with the new facility?
A: The location of this building will do really phenomenal things for the University. This building will essentially be a new entrance into the academic core of campus, which is something this University hasn’t had for many, many years. As you come down Wooster Street, you’ll get this sort of oblique view of the building as it sits out on the corner. For people coming into the city and people coming into the University, the building will be a resource, not just for the college, (but for) learning spaces that will become resources that could be used by the greater campus community. It’ll be a resource to the broader community. In particular, the broader business community with event spaces that companies could use for retreats and work sessions. We do envision a lot of people coming from off campus to use the facilities that will be there.
Q: What is happening to the Women’s Center relocation?
A: We haven’t really finalized the location for the current occupants of the building. We know where the Gish Theater is going to be relocated to. That’ll go into the theater in the Union. For other occupants, we’re currently putting plans together as we speak to find them another suitable location. We’re trying not to move them too much. It’s a far more complex undertaking than what we do with the buildings.
Q: What will happen to the current Business Administration Building?
A: We don’t have final plans for that. It will remain an academic building. It will be a combination of classrooms and office buildings. The classrooms in the BA have been updated fairly recently. They will continue to be used. It will be used like Olscamp or Eppler. There are some that are obviously specialized and unique to the building, but overall, we’re promoting the sharing of classrooms. We’ve invested heavily in them.
Q: Are you hoping that this building will pull in more students and set the University apart from competition from other schools?
A: Absolutely. The facilities in this building will rival those of anything in the country right now. It’s a great project and has been talked about for many years. We’re extremely pleased to be where we’re at today. We’ve had great interest from around the country from some of the top architecture firms in the nation, which I think is a tribute to everyone who has spent a lot of time on this, and very clearly, university leadership.
