NEW BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS

[G-Dawg]

I'm on campus all this week for a conference and noticed new buildings near the Longest Student Health center going up and another one on campus (though now I can't remember where I saw it, just that I did). Can anyone tell me what these are going to be?

Thanks. I'll hang up and listen.

 

[MSUDC11]

The building by the health center is a new engineering building. There is also a new animal science building being built in front of the vet school.

 

[Mafiadawg]

I’ve thought for some time that engineering row needs a major overhaul. It’s very unattractive.

 

[DirtyDog]

The new building by the health center is a new Civil Engineering building. It has been in the plans for over 10 years. University politics is a pain in the ***.

 

[bulldognation]

Dorman says hello.

 

[Mafiadawg]

For a school known for engineering, engineering row should look better than it does imo. I do realize that other engineering buildings have been built elsewhere and are state of the art.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

responded to wrong post

 

[Duke Humphrey]

One of the biggest issues with engineering facilities is the cost of the labs......... Walker and Simrall have millions upon millions in lab space/equipment that make relocation/renovation even more costly than just constructing a new building. Same with Dorman and plant science labs.

Part of the new Rula Civil & Environmental Engineering Building will be all new lab space.

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

engineering row should look better than it does imo.

sounds like the architects let the engineers down.

 

[FQDawg]

The other issue with some of the engineering buildings, from what I understand, is that they are registered as "historically significant" buildings (or whatever the proper term is)... which means they can't undergo any major renovations. Or, at least, undertaking major renovations is difficult because we would be obligated to keep things historically accurate. The example I heard was that we can't even replace old single-pane windows with new double-pane ones - if a window needs to be replaced, it has to be identical to what's already there.

The other example I heard was that years ago, some alum offered to donate enough money to tear down Patterson (which needs a lot of work) and build a new, state-of-the-art engineering facility in its place but we couldn't agree to it because we aren't allowed to tear down (or fundamentally change) Patterson because of it's historical status.

 

[Dawgtruc]

The other issue with some of the engineering buildings, from what I understand, is that they are registered as "historically significant" buildings (or whatever the proper term is)... which means they can't undergo any major renovations. Or, at least, undertaking major renovations is difficult because we would be obligated to keep things historically accurate. The example I heard was that we can't even replace old single-pane windows with new double-pane ones - if a window needs to be replaced, it has to be identical to what's already there.

The other example I heard was that years ago, some alum offered to donate enough money to tear down Patterson (which needs a lot of work) and build a new, state-of-the-art engineering facility in its place but we couldn't agree to it because we aren't allowed to tear down (or fundamentally change) Patterson because of it's historical status.

Then how do you explain all the work that was done to Lee Hall?

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Other than the high-bay area in Simrall that was used by the power guys, there wasn't too much in place that couldn't be easily moved, when I was in school (in the dark ages). I've often semi-joked that if it weren't for the slowness of the elevator in Simrall, I would've graduated a semester sooner...

 

[FQDawg]

Then how do you explain all the work that was done to Lee Hall?

I can't. Partly because I don't know what all was done to Lee Hall and partly because I'm not remotely an expert on the preservation requirements of historical architecture. I'm just passing on what I heard from someone who was involved with engineering on campus.

 

[Shmuley]

According to the architects who oversaw the Lee Hall reno project, DAH was heavily involved in making sure that all work fit within the DAH preservation mandates. It slowed the project down to a 17n crawl at points and lead to some serious disagreements and change order adds. These old buildings that allegedly have historical significance are capable of being reno'd, but DAH involvement is a serious boat anchor on timelines and a virtually 100% guarantee of increased costs.

 

[FQDawg]

The other example I got during the conversation was that they can't even slap a new coat of paint on the walls in some of those older buildings without getting ridiculous levels of approvals.