Constructions plans are set for Family & Consumer Sciences, West Hall and Hanna Hall to compress campus and advance a progressive campus image.

“We are looking to compress the campus and shift things around,” Assistant Vice President Bob Waddle said. “So, the question becomes, what would it cost to renovate and what would it cost to take it down? Do we have space where we can shift the operations into other places? That was essentially the decision points.”

These decision points lead to the demolition of Family & Consumer Sciences and West Hall in the summer of 2017. Rooms in each building will be cleared out and asbestos treatment will be put down this spring.

“Each building had enough deferred maintenance, so we decided to shift the features of the buildings into newly renovated ones that have the same core of learning,” Waddle said.

Most of the features that were in the Family & Consumer Sciences and West Hall was shifted over to the newly renovated Health and Human Services and the Kuhlin Center, featuring a Food and Nutrition laboratory and other features to further enhance functions and resources on campus.

With demolitions plans for Family & Consumer Sciences and West Hall are underway, Hanna Hall is looking at a renovation and expansion of the building with the College of Business moving in.

“Roughly right now we are looking at a total project cost right around 42 million dollars,” Waddle said.

According to Waddle, the money that is covering the cost of renovations comes from bond sales, which then is a part of student fees which pays off for the next 30 years or so. There are also development dollars that are donated to the project.

With production funds, students can hope to see new features in Hanna Hall and the college of business.

“In terms of Hanna Hall, right now, is to design the building to support the curriculum that is truly designed for collaboration,” Waddle said.

The features Waddle and Capital Planning are considering is the installation of laboratories that are flexible for big groups and small groups and allow faculty and students to mold it into what they want it to be to collaborate.

“With organizations, such as Vision, Force and the Women’s Center, having an expansion of spaces for collaborations is great in allowing more people to get involve,” alumni Cieara Little said.

With all the renovations going on in old campus, students, faculty and staff will still get the view and feel of old campus.  

“The addition to the building will probably be on the east side of Hanna Hall. When you look at Hanna Hall the front will still look the same but the addition will be on the back so you will still have that look and view of the original building,” Waddle said.

With the collaboration of Hanna Hall and the College of Business, there is no news on a name change for Hanna Hall. One difference is the moving of the Gish Theatre to the University’s Student Union.

“We want to move a lot of the memorabilia and recognition of all the donors in the theatre in the Student Union on campus. The Gish sisters will still be recognized in that way,” Waddle said.

Clearing out of Hanna Hall will the begin in the summer of 2018 with renovations following in the fall.

With the idea of compressing campus, discussions have been in motion on taking Anderson Arena down.

“In the overall discussion about compressing campus, People believed that it was a nice site for a residence hall because it is a little closer to the academic buildings, it is kind of in the middle of things,” Waddle said.

While there have been discussions on the possibility of a new residence hall, Waddle and Capital Planning are also looking to go through a residence life plan before any decisions are made.