Building to serve many functions during renovation
by Shannon Harrison, managing editor

    (Third in a four-part series about maintaining campus facilities.)
Now nearing 35 years old, NE Campus will be getting a face-lift over the next few years.

   It is uncertain whether the current Student Center will be enlarged and remodeled or whether the building will be demolished and reconstructed.

   “We are presently looking toward a plan,” Dr. Van Parker, dean of student development and educational services on NE Campus, said.

   “Our ultimate goal is to redesign the student center and make it a one-stop shop. We want to have the variety of counseling, testing, financial aid, registrar, bookstore, business services and career employment services all in one building,” he said.

   Currently, a warehouse, which will temporarily hold the student center and business service area while the building is under construction, is being built.

   “The plan is to start with the student center,” Parker said. “The warehouse will be a place where the offices will be relocated until their original buildings are finished,” he said.

   With increased enrollment expected and problems with the age of the buildings, NE Campus will expand, moving from building to building.

   “No decisions have been made yet, but we are really looking forward to the changes,” Dr. Paula Vastine, director of student developmental services, said.

   “We are very crowded in the Student Center, but we have many different things to discuss. We need to talk about space, furniture and a budget,” she said. “Everything is waiting on someone downtown to give the okay,” she said.

   Plans are being put together, but the actual construction is still in the decision-making process.

   “The actual rebuilding is still up in the air,” George Richardson, director of the physical plant, said.

   “There are many things in discussion about the new facility. We (the physical plant) expect to be in the warehouse this summer, but we still have a couple of months before the contract is complete,” he said. “We do not plan on moving anyone until plans are ready to go to contract. I don’t want to displace people until the plans are drawn and the contractors are ready to work.”

   Lou Davenport, student development coordinator, said, “I’m excited about having a new student center because it is an opportunity for change. When we come back after the construction, we will be able to provide expanded services for students and have a more time efficient process.”

   Some of the buildings on campus have asbestos, and the administration wants to eliminate this material before rebuilding.

   Asbestos is a fibrous material once used in construction and was used when the campus was first built.

   “There are five or six buildings from the original campus that were built in the ’60s and ’70s,” Richardson said.

   “These buildings have some amount of asbestos, and we want to take care of these issues. These buildings are not unsafe, but we would like to rid them of asbestos before we start rebuilding them.
The NE Campus is ready for changes, but Richardson said there is not a firm date for completion.

   “We will be ready to start the process, but we don’t know when the process will start,” he said.