Miami Tackles Six Major Construction Projects

BY RACHEL BRADY
and BLAIR DONOVAN
Miami University journalism students

Brace yourselves for more hard hats and bulldozers around campus. Miami University’s list of construction projects is growing.

Over the next year, Miami will begin projects to build two new residences hall, renovate three academic buildings and four other dorms, complete the new student union building and remake the old one. And those projects come just after the completion of most of the Armstrong Student Center, the renovation of Anderson Hall, and the completion of three new dorms on Western Campus all in having been completed in 2014.

According to David Creamer, senior vice president of finance and business services, construction is part of Miami’s natural evolution.

“We’re modernizing buildings’ interiors as they change and making sure their functionality matches the needs today and in the future,” said Creamer. “With 8 million square feet and buildings built as long ago as 1830, renovating Miami’s campus is a long process.”

It's also an expensive process, with the cost of six current, major projects adding up to nearly $194 million.

Funding sources vary

Funding for the projects will come from a variety of sources, including donor money, state appropriations, local resources and student fees.

Last month, the Miami University Board of Trustees approved issuing $180 million worth of bonds to help pay for two new residence halls on North Quad. The bond proceeds will also cover a renovation of Hughes Hall, which will be used as a swing space during the upcoming renovations of Pearson Hall.

The Armstrong Student Center will use student fee and donor dollars to complete its third and final East Wing. Shriver Center will use bookstore revenue and local funding. The Western Walk project funds will come mostly from residence and dining hall fees.

In addition to providing physical and social benefits, the construction projects have the potential to benefit Miami financially.

Summer income possible

Katie Wilson, director of the Armstrong Student Center, says the ASC East Wing addition will include a conference center capable of holding up to 450 people, opening up opportunities for summer rentals.

"This is a huge attraction to outside groups that want to come in the summertime and that brings revenue both to Miami and Oxford,” said Wilson. “I think that when we can build revenue in the summer, it’s one of the pieces that keeps overall costs down in the total operation, which has a positive impact on affordability. Currently, there isn’t another place you can do that in Oxford -- period.”

Of the two academic buildings slated for work, Miami decided renovation was preferred to new construction. Bachelor Hall will get a $32 million upgrade for completion in 2020. Pearson Hall Phase 1 renovation, at $23.9 million, will begin early summer 2017.

As for the residence halls, a growing number of incoming students is creating the need for more space on North Quad.

Dorms build community

Erik Sorensen, assistant director of residence life, thinks the new dorms will build more community among students.

“Our focus in residence life is really building the best communities we can where your friends are there and you like coming home because you care about the people around you and you enjoy your living situation,” said Sorensen.

As construction ramps up in the coming months, student safety will be a top administration concern. Creamer says contractors and architects always plan out safety measures before beginning the projects.

“Certain areas are blocked off and designed so it’s not easy to get into those areas,” said Creamer. “The projects themselves are to bring more safety to the buildings. In residence halls now, you see more fire suppression items than in older dorms. The air quality in newer ones is better than in older ones.”

Information scarce

All the current construction projects have been OK'd and announced, but there’s no single place on the Miami website or elsewhere that provides information for faculty, staff and students.

Cody Powell, associate vice president of facility planning and operations, recognizes the need for more communication.

“In terms of communicating what’s happening next and what’s going on, we just use The Miami Student,” said Powell, citing the student-run newspaper and web site. “Oftentimes we will want to do articles, but we’re usually not proactive. We usually don’t go out and say ‘Hey, can you guys do an article on this because we want to share this with students?' But maybe that’s something that we could consider.”

Powell expressed excitement about the many renovations and projects that are coming to Miami's campus in the next several years. He sees a bright future for the physical campus and the students that will get to experience the benefits.

Like Creamer, he acknowledged that construction on campus is pretty constant.

"I know that (Miami) President (Greg) Crawford has talked a lot about innovation spaces and collaboration spaces," said Powell, "so it wouldn't shock me if we saw something in the future in that direction. I'm excited to see what his initiatives are."

Here's a roundup of Miami’s current construction projects:

Armstrong Student Center East Wing addition

• Cost: $23 million, after a first-phase cost of $53 million.
• How it’s funded: Fundraising and redirection of the student fee that used to go to the Miami Recreation Center. The $52 a semester fee that students used to pay to cover the debt from the Rec now covers Armstrong debt.
• Features: The new wing will include the Career Services office, including changing rooms for students who have interviews; the Joslin Student Senate Chamber for student government meetings; My Supply, a store selling school supplies and everyday items; the Red Zone, a recreational room with air hockey, foosball, pool tables, and concession-style food; a Luxembourg-themed coffee shop; and medium-sized meeting rooms for student organizations that can hold 25 to 70 people. The features were decided largely based on student input. “Shriver had limitations and never really quite met what would be called a student center,” said Creamer. “Historically we relied on the library as the only gathering place until Armstrong was created and it gives students options for how they can do things. The activity level in there speaks to its success.” Hoyt Hall will be used for IT functions after Career Services moves to Armstrong.
• Expected end date: May or June 2017. Creamer says this phase is running a little ahead of schedule.
• Other information: Armstrong was officially announced in the fall of 2009, and completed in early 2014. Culler, Gaskill and Rowan Halls were incorporated into the the ASC design.

Shriver Center project

• Cost: $20 million
• How it’s funded: Bookstore revenue, local funding.
• Features: A renovated Shriver will include a new admissions center, a small tiered auditorium, the Rinella tutoring center, disability services, and the student package center. Shriver will become the new welcome center because of its central location. Offices in the Campus Avenue building will be renovated with the communications staff relocating to CAB. Next year, the Miami Bookstore located in Shriver will become a pick-up site for an online book ordering system. Students will also pick up packages in Shriver instead of Wells Hall. They’ll get a text telling them they have a package inside a locker, and they’ll scan their phone to open the locker.
• Expected end date: Spring or summer 2017.
• Other information: Creamer says Miami is conducting traffic studies in the area to meet family and visitor needs and avoid congestion. “I’m guessing we won’t have more families come, but we want a better experience,” said Creamer.

North Quad residence halls

• Cost: $75.5 million.
• How they're funded: Proceeds from tax-exempt bonds.
• Features: “We try to create spaces that fit a lot of students comfortably, but we don’t want a space where it doesn’t feel homey,” Sorensen said, regarding the dorms. The hall to be built on the site of the former Withrow Court will include space for 270 students and cost $37 million. The hall slated for the North Quad tennis court site will house 350 students and cost $38.5 million.
• Expected end date: Fall 2018.
• Other information: Sorensen says there are currently 8,100 beds on campus, but in the past two years they’ve had to place students in off-campus apartments because the dorms were full.

Pearson Hall renovation

• Cost: $42 million, which includes renovations to Hughes Hall to serve as a swing space before renovations to Pearson and Bachelor halls begin.
• How it’s funded: State and local funding.
• Features: The renovation of Pearson Hall is focused primarily on modernizing labs in the building. As Miami students are becoming more advanced in their research, the labs are falling behind in what they are capable of providing. These renovations should allow students to advance their research and experiments.
• Expected end date: Fall 2019.

Western Campus Phase II

• Cost: $33.3 million.
• How it’s funded: Residence and dining hall fees, operations budget, local repair funds.
• Features: Extending the geothermal initiative to more buildings by installing more geothermal wells, renovating Clawson Hall, repairing the bridge and extending the walkway behind Western Dining Commons. According to Creamer, it’s easier to work on multiple projects within a quad simultaneously so that they are all torn up at once. This phase will make Western more eco-friendly and sustainable, as well as enhancing the pedestrian areas.
• Expected end date: Spring 2017.
• Other information: Creamer said the Western Campus construction was done in two phases to minimize disruption. The first phase included building Hillcrest, Beechwoods, and Stonebridge Halls and renovating the dining hall. According to Creamer, the original buildings at the Western College for Women were stone. To preserve the architecture, the new dorms on Western campus have a blend of the traditional Miami red brick mixed with the stone associated with the women’s college.