Building begins at Southeast Missouri State University

Excuse the dust.

Southeast Missouri State University is now in the opening phases of a massive campuswide renovation project.

Kathy Mangels, Southeast's vice president for finance and administration, summed up the situation:

"It's been very busy," she told the university's board of regents last week.

In December, the board approved the issuance of $59.25 million in bonds for the renovation and maintenance projects, including nearly $23 million in upgrades to the century-old campus anchor Academic Hall. In March, regents approved about $27.83 million worth in bond-based projects for the new academic year, which began Friday.

Construction dust is flying at Memorial Hall, where Kiefner Brothers Inc. of Cape Girardeau is renovating the bottom floor for Southeast's integrated technology department, which will move from Academic Hall. The cost of that project is $1.415 million, according to university documents. Abatement work was set for completion by the end of June, with construction to be finished by December.

"Our big push right now is to get Academic Hall cleared out by the end of the fall semester," Mangels said.

This rendering shows what the west side of the renovated Magill Hall will look like on completion.

Many already have boxed up and moved out, including the president's office, now at Dempster Hall.

Kiefner Brothers crews also have the contract for the Houck Field House cooling system, a project with a price tag of about $675,000. That project is expected to be wrapped up by August, just in time to offer much-needed relief to the Redhawks volleyball team and their fans.

The new scoreboard is up and the turf is down at Houck Stadium, Mangels said, with stadium field lighting expected to be finished this summer.

Several deferred maintenance projects have begun, including heating, air-conditioning and renovation work in student housing, and roof replacements at the Grauel Building and Henderson Hall.

The university's planned conversion of the central boiler from coal to natural gas, part of an extensive energy distribution project, goes to bid this month.

But the stars of the show at last week's board meeting were the high-profile renovation projects: Academic and Magill.

Tim Rowbottom, principal at St. Louis-based Lawrence Group Architects, Southeast's architect on the Academic plan, said design work is about half complete. The estimated cost is pegged at $18.157 million, slightly under budget at this point, Rowbottom told the board.

The project focus remains the same: "Replace the failing infrastructure, enhance the student experience and honor the history and prepare this building for another century of service," he said.

He guided board members through detailed renderings of the vision of a renovated Academic Hall, which will serve administration and student services and will continue to house the historic auditorium. The first floor will be home to financial aid, the registrar and other student services in a more "user-friendly" way, Rowbottom said. The plan is to "preserve and bring back the historic image of the building," including installation of the former grand historic stairs and the restoration of historic fixtures.

"We're bringing that back to what you would have experienced 100 years ago," he said.

Design is expected to be completed by the end of the month, bidding begins in late fall, with hazardous material abatement to follow. Construction is slated to start in February, with completion targeted for the fall semester 2013.

Greg Lattig, president of Kansas City, Mo.-based The Clark Enersen Partners, walked board members through the details of the Magill Hall architectural plan, nearly complete. The renovation and expansion of Southeast's aging science building remains on budget, at about $17.95 million, Lattig said.

Demolition work is underway, and phase one of the project, the renovation of the eastern half of the building, begins in the coming weeks. The western half will continue to operate while construction on the east side goes on, with completion of the first phase set for August 2012, and the second phase, or the west half, to open in 2013.

Lattig said he doesn't expect any unforeseen abatement costs affecting Magill, although there is a $1.2 million waste-hauling budget in place, and extensive hazardous material removal is a part of the demolition work.

"We're pretty much gutting that building," the architect said. "Not much is going to be unforeseen because there's not going to be much left inside."

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO