“I'm expecting that it will drag engineering on the campus forward,” said Dr. Terry Parker, Engineering Division Director, regarding the Brown building expansion. “I just think it's the most exciting thing that's happened to campus since I've been here.” Parker commented, noting that he was present for the construction of the Student Center and the Recreation Center.
As the new dorms come in to the southeast, the student center, the recreation center, and Brown building are expected to see a lot more traffic and 16th street is expected to become a busy crossroads.
Parker explained, “16th will become more pedestrian friendly... There will be road, but that will not be commonly used road,” as part of coping with the increase in foot traffic.
The expansion will provide “classroom space and student space... desperately needed in my opinion.” Parker continued, “As the campus has become more residential, students need places to study and be social.”
Parker said, “We’re replacing [classrooms] 201 and 204.” In their place will be two more modern lecture halls, tiered rooms with dual projectors that better integrate with the expansion that will take their place. It turns out that replacing them was actually less expensive than salvaging them.
There will be two new labs, a new classroom in renovated Brown, and a new classroom in the expansion. Each classroom is in the 30 to 50-student range.
There will also be a computing classroom. It will be arranged to ensure good line-of-sight to the front of the room and will be equipped with three projectors.
There will be a new, large lecture hall on the end of the expansion nearest 16th street. It will be oriented toward campus-wide use. It may serve as a place where students could watch movies, bring in speakers, or any number of things.
There will also be a large area available for campus wide use. It will have tables and chairs, social areas, areas built more for studying, presentation areas, study rooms, and a coffee shop. Parker expounded, “The coffee bar area, that's really intended to go get a cup of coffee with your friends and discuss what's happened recently.”
The bidding has begun, but it is a lengthy process. “We're forecasting a February 1 ground breaking.” Parker explained what has happened and what is yet to happen by saying, “We’re talking about an 18-month construction period and we’re having an 18-month planning period.” The expansion is expected to be completed the summer of 2011.
Reflecting on the planning process, Parker looked back at how the process started, with a spreadsheet to determine relative floor space ratios for various usages. He explained after that, thinking was mostly oriented towards getting as much floor space as possible. Parker elaborated, “We wanted to maximize the square footage we would get and minimize effort.” However, the committee also made it a priority to integrate the new and old buildings in a tidy fashion.
In response to the construction process, the campus will have to adjust to a temporary classroom shortage. Parker said, “We're planning on losing [classrooms] 201, 204, and the bay area... It'll be an interesting 18 months.”
All of this inconvenience, however, comes with great benefit. The campus will get an additional 60 to 72 thousand square feet of indoor space.
The budget is $25 million. If items go over budget, certain projects will be cut; if there is a surplus, more renovations will be carried out to existing Brown.
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