Over the next few years, students and faculty at Binghamton University can expect to see major renovations on existing buildings and the construction of several new ones in an effort to better the campus, according to James VanVoorst, vice president for administration.

BU will begin construction on a number of new facilities, many next spring, including residential complexes and science research buildings, while current structures on campus undergo repairs and updates.

‘The University is quite pleased that over the last few years we’ve had a good deal of construction money and renovation money come our way, so we’ve been able to do a number of things that improve the campus overall,’ VanVoorst said.

The University’s aim in both the recently finished and upcoming construction is to guarantee the comfort of current, as well as future students, as 27,000 hopefuls visited last year, VanVoorst said.

‘The people who live here and work here are extremely important, but we also have prospective students who come to the campus [to] visit,’ he said. ‘So we strive to keep the classrooms, the resident halls, the common areas all looking well.’

ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE BUILDING

In October 2006, the former New York State Electric & Gas administrative center to the east of campus was named the Innovative Technologies Complex after state funding allowed for remodeling of the building. Today, the ITC is known as a ‘premier research center,’ according to VanVoorst, and BU is now looking to add a second building to the facility.

He said that the upcoming facility, known as the Engineering and Science Building, is in the works with members of the BU community ‘ from the engineering department, Physical Facilities and the University’s division of research ‘ playing a large part in the structure’s design.

‘We’re doing the design of this building, this is all done by people here that are on the campus, and who knows better than us?’ VanVoorst said.

According to Karen Fennie, spokeswoman for Physical Facilities, the schematic design of the building is underway. The Office of Physical Facilities is now looking to hire an engineering consultant for the design of the building’s electrical and mechanical systems.

VanVoorst said the building, which will include classrooms, labs and offices, will be designed to suit the needs of various research grants with a spatial lab area.

‘I think we really have a very functional building, but also one that will allow for growth in the future and meet the needs of not only our current students but also our future students,’ VanVoorst said.

Construction is set to begin in September of 2008 and the facility will open in 2011.

EAST CAMPUS PROJECT

According to VanVoorst, the initial proposals for the reconstruction of Newing College and Dickinson Community have transformed from last year ‘ for the better.

The original plans introduced suite-style residence halls for both Newing and Dickinson. But the plans were criticized by some students who felt the type of living situation proposed was not in sync with the atmosphere of the two communities.

VanVoorst said that an active project team and town hall meetings prompted plans to move to neighborhood style rooms ‘ double corridor style with semi-private bathrooms.

VanVoorst cited the ‘culture’ of the communities as having a large impact on the specifics of the $300 million project.

‘As I said, we started with suites, which was not a ‘Newing and Dickinson’ feel,’ said VanVoorst, adding that suite-style dormitories were the first plans presented by the architects of the project.

Along with the feel of the communities, the influence of the market and feedback from incoming freshmen had a strong impact on what are now considered the final plans for the first building of Newing, he said.

‘I mean, you can’t do things in isolation, you have to look at where the world’s going to and what is expected of campuses to have available for students when they come on campus,’ VanVoorst said.

VanVoorst said that the current plan is the one the University will move forward with for the first building of Newing ‘ a design calling for every three bedrooms to share a bathroom, while common facilities will still be available on each floor.

Fennie estimated the start of the construction of the first building would be the spring of 2008 and by 2013 the project should be finished.

COLLEGIATE CENTER

One aspect of the East Campus plans that remains less developed is the Collegiate Center. The Center is to act as both a dining facility and a meeting space, and administrators at BU are still contemplating whether one or two facilities in the designated area would best benefit the communities.

‘We’ve set up focus groups with students, resident halls people, facilities people, faculty masters and other people to start phasing out what’s going to be put in the Collegiate Center,’ VanVoorst said.

The next step in the process is for the architects of the project to come up with rough design of the Collegiate Center that focus groups can alter to fit the needs of the University, hopefully by the winter holidays, he said.

‘It’s a process; the architects give you their best shot, they say here’s what we’ve heard, here’s what we feel, so that people have something to talk about,’ VanVoorst said.

The Collegiate Center will be the second building completed in the East Campus renovation, following the construction of the first Newing dormitory. VanVoorst said he believes this will help to better establish a sense of identity for each community.

‘I’m hoping to get this on the fast track, only because it really has been pointed out it’s essential that you build the community before you build the buildings,’ VanVoorst said.

The Collegiate Center is set to be built in the area surrounding Newing Dining Hall and the initial idea of a walkway crossing over the Brain from the facility has been scratched. The plans released last Friday call for all the buildings to be built on the outside of the brain.

UNION

According to VanVoorst, starting this spring, the Old University Union will undergo renovations for critical maintenance purposes, such as the removal of asbestos and roof replacements, along with the idea of better utilizing space for classroom and programming events.

‘What the campus needs is classrooms. What the students need is more program space at night,’ VanVoorst said.

The first phase of the project ‘ which includes renovations to the Mandela Room, the Old Union Hall, the Tillman Lobby and other lounge areas ‘ is set to begin in May of 2008, as the south end of the Union will move ‘offline,’ according to VanVoorst.

Students, however, voiced concerns over the reduction of student programming space. This reduction includes changes to be made to the Mandela room, including the addition of pull-out dividers for the room so that the room can be used by more than one group at once, and the moving of the Equal Opportunity Program office to room 133, which is currently programming space.

‘With the Union, I think that it’s important that we keep [room] 133 as a meeting room,’ Landau said. ‘It’s used all the time and to make it EOP does not benefit the student body.’

The addition of four multipurpose rooms, ranging from about 1,100 square feet to 1,500 square feet, will also be added during that time period, stretching between the East and West Lounges.

According to those designs, further phases include the revamping of the second floor of the Old Union to include seven different multipurpose rooms, while the ground floor of the New University Union will hold space for meeting areas, the Food Co-op and the Inter Greek Council.

Likewise, the Student Association will take the place of Telecommunications on the second floor of the New University Union, next to where offices for Hillel, Campus Life, OCCT and other multipurpose rooms will be located.

The third floor of the New Union will hold the most offices for student activities, ranging from NYPIRG, to ballroom dancing and LASU, with two multipurpose rooms.

In the meantime, the campus space management committee, a group of advisers made up of all the vice presidents, the vice provost for budget and fiscal management, and the associate vice president for facilities, is looking for alternative space options come May 2008.

‘We’ll make every effort to accommodate the functions on campus, but it’s likely there will be some functions that will be interrupted during the time we’re in construction, and we’ll have to work though that,’ VanVoorst said.

EAST GYM

Last spring BU administrators unveiled a $13 million project to renovate the East Gym ‘ a plan that would expand the size of FitSpace by three times and install an indoor track and other new facilities. According to VanVoorst, the price of the project has increased by $2 million since then, due to inflation factors.

Although VanVoorst said there is currently not enough money in the budget for the project, students will not be charged an increased fee for the construction, but will most likely have to face higher operation rates once the renovations are complete.

The plan, which calls for a hybrid pool, a lap pool, two gymnasiums, an extended lobby area, the renovation of FitSpace and the addition of more free space, is still in the works.

‘I intend to keep this project moving through the design phase, hoping to find [money] through donations or maybe the state budget, but I want to have these plans ready to go,’ VanVoorst said.

Design is scheduled to resume in November as long as the consultant agreement is approved in Albany, according to Fennie.

‘If the approval comes as expected, design would continue through next summer,’ Fennie said. ‘Construction could start late fall 2008 and could be complete in late spring 2010.’

SCIENCE V

Next fall construction will begin for Science Building V ‘ a facility with lab, research, teaching areas and housing for animals used for scientific research ‘ between buildings III and IV.

‘This is a very highly complex research facility ‘ It’s a working building, research space, lab space, office space ‘ that’s what this building is all about,’ VanVoorst said.

According to Fennie, the design phase of the project will be finished this upcoming summer and the building should be completed in spring of 2011.

The 65,000 square foot building will allow not only for research, but will also foster improvement among the other science buildings, Fennie said.

‘[Science V] will provide appropriate space for research while at the same time create surge space to allow for moves that will facilitate critical maintenance and renovation of the older science buildings,’ she said.

INFO COMMONS

As a response to student complaints, BU officials are planning to extend the current Information Commons of the Glenn G. Bartle Library.

The University is currently looking at two options to increase the number of computer work stations and VanVoorst said the main decision will be whether to maintain the current look through the new area or use a different type of station.

‘This wasn’t planned to be done for another year, but we keep hearing that people have trouble finding computers,’ VanVoorst said.

If administrators choose to stick to the present set-up, up to 53 stations will be added to the Commons. If they decide to go with a new type of desk-computer combination, however, 83 additional work areas could be added.

‘This is a project similar to the first Info Commons project only on the east side of the Library,’ Fennie said. ‘We are waiting for some final approvals regarding design and if all goes well, construction could start later this fall.’

According to Fennie, the project’s actual construction would take between two and three months, which means the new commons would be finished sometime during the spring of 2008.