RENOVATION ON CAMPUS IN FULL SWING

Renovation of the Towers West residence hall at Southeast Missouri State University is in full swing, and the project is being expanded to improve the "chilled water" cooling system on the north side of campus.

The Board of Regents Friday approved plans to construct a centralized cooling facility on the north side of the Towers parking lot, including a connecting utility tunnel. The facility will house a 575-ton chilled water plant with cooling towers. The new equipment will replace the old deteriorating "chillers" that are currently used to cool the Towers complex, as well as improving the cooling system for other buildings on the north end of the campus, university officials said.

The $1.63 million project will be done as an add-on to the $11 million renovation of Towers West and North residence halls, officials said.

Sverdrup Corp. of St. Louis, an architectural and engineering company that is managing the renovation project, recommended the university proceed with upgrading the cooling system.

Sverdrup representative Gary Lange said the chiller facility would be designed for future expansion.

Part of the cost will be paid for with state appropriations and with cost savings being realized on the Towers renovation work, university officials said.

The Towers West renovation has proceeded on schedule and currently is under budget, Lange said.

"The (asbestos) abatement work that needed to be done is complete," said Mark Vogel, assistant director of the physical plant at Southeast.

"The demolition contractor is on site; the electrical contractor is on site," he said.

The top three floors (10th through 12th) of Towers West have been gutted, said David Grauvogl, the on-site construction manager for Sverdrup.

"We have started rebuilding on the 12th floor at this time," said Grauvogl, explaining that electrical and mechanical work is proceeding.

The demolition work and new construction are proceeding simultaneously. About 15 to 20 construction workers are currently involved in the project, he said.

"It is a scheduling challenge to make sure everybody flows and fits into where they need to," said Vogel, who is helping supervise Southeast's physical plant department since the resignation earlier this summer of director Bill Moon.

Gil Seres, director of business services, was named interim director of the physical plant in late June. But because of illness and projects in the printing and duplicating department that he headed, Seres has returned to his regular position.

The demolition work in Towers West is being done by T.J. Ahrens of St. Louis at a cost of about $525,000.

Grauvogl said the contractor had salvaged a lot of the furniture, ceiling tile and other materials and donated them to the local Salvation Army to aid flood victims.

Interior renovations of Towers West will cost about $2.6 million. Mechanical and plumbing work will cost more than $1.8 million.

Renovation of Towers West, which was vacated at the end of the spring semester, is expected to be completed by May. Towers North, a similar 12-story structure, will then be closed for renovations. All the renovation work is expected to be completed by May 1995.

With the renovation, the old dormitory room concept is being scrapped in favor of student suites.

University officials kicked off the renovation project with a "wall bashing" ceremony at Towers West in May.

Meanwhile, renovation of the social science building remains in the planning stages, Vogel said.

The social science building, completed in 1902, is the oldest structure on campus.

Plans call for upgrading the mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems, and the building's faculty offices and classrooms.

In preparation for the project, faculty offices and classrooms have been temporarily relocated to other facilities in particular, Kent Library.

"We have gone ahead and vacated the building," he said.

"We've housed the majority of people in Kent Library. We think it will work out very well," said Vogel.

It's envisioned the construction project will cost about $1 million.

"We had requested proposals for design services," said Vogel. "We are in the process of interviewing three firms."

Vogel said it's hoped a design firm could be selected within the next month and that construction could get under way by the middle of fall.

The project's goal, he said, is to make the building "more functional" by concentrating offices in one area of the building and classrooms in another.

With only two weeks until the start of the fall semester, Vogel said the university's physical plant department is hard at work getting facilities ready. The first day of classes is Aug. 23.

"We are installing cable television in individual residence hall rooms in Cheney," he pointed out. "We are making some changes to a couple of floors in Towers for the honors students."

Some improvements are also being made to the university's parking areas in preparation for the start of the campus shuttle system, he said.