Polytechnic addition building toward April

They're still building at Southeast Missouri State University's Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building, which had barely opened before construction crews showed up in September to expand the $9 million structure.

Work on the 6,000-square-foot, $850,000 brick-and-steel addition at the northeast end of the Seabaugh Polytechnic Building is being financed with university money and salary savings from unfilled positions.

The addition should be completed by April, said Dr. Randall Shaw, dean of the School of Polytechnic Studies.

Shaw said the university initially wanted to build a larger Seabaugh Polytechnic Building but trimmed the size believing it didn't have enough money for a bigger project.

School officials approved the expansion after finding there was sufficient money to pay for it.

Zoellner Construction of Perryville, Mo., is the general contractor on the project. "They've got the roof on it and they're putting up the walls now," Shaw said.

Made for industries

Unlike the 60,000-square-foot Polytechnic Building that opened for classes in August, the addition is designed to serve area industries rather than college students.

The addition will house the school's Technology Resource Center, providing a place to hold training seminars and workshops for local industries. AmerenUE has helped set up the center. Industrial firms will contract with the university to provide customized training for workers, Shaw said.

The addition offers "big, open space" and an overhead door that will allow large industrial equipment to be hauled in for training sessions, he said. Space will also be available that industries may lease for short-term research. Future polytechnic programs, such as construction management and electrical engineering technology, will have room in the addition as well.

Dewayne Whitener coordinates the university's Technology Resource Center and heads up the Missouri Enterprise office in the polytechnic school. Missouri Enterprise is a non-profit group funded partly by the state's Economic Development Department.

Whitener helps set up industrial training for area manufacturers. Some training currently is held in the new Polytechnic Building, but the addition will make it easier, he said.

Workshops won't have to battle for classroom and equipment space, he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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