UNIVERSITY REGENTS OK ROAD PROJECT

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents has taken steps to reduce traffic congestion at the New Madrid and Henderson intersection.

The board Friday approved plans to improve Greek Drive, which ties into the intersection.

Greek Drive currently is a two-way street. The university plans to make it one way for motorists traveling east toward Johnson Hall on the north end of the campus.

A new Greek Drive extension will be constructed to connect the current road with New Madrid Street. The road will be built under the pedestrian overpass and connect with New Madrid across from the Student Recreation Center.

The new road will allow one-way traffic to exit onto New Madrid, but a good distance from the busy Henderson Street intersection, school officials said.

A walking path will be built through the yard of Wildwood, the university president's home, so that students can get from the north campus commuter lots near the Show Me Center to the campus sidewalk system that extends to Robert A. Dempster Hall.

Currently, students often walk along President Dr. Dale Nitzschke's driveway to reach Dempster Hall and other campus buildings.

The entire project is expected to cost less than $370,000.

The regents also approved plans to renovate Academic Hall and three other buildings, and construct a $550,000 maintenance building adjacent to the Washington Street parking lot.

A new maintenance building will consolidate maintenance operations now housed in three different buildings.

Some maintenance operations are housed in a building on Ellis Street. That building eventually could house a criminal justice center and a crime lab once the new maintenance facility is in operation, school officials said.

University officials have been talking to the Missouri Highway Patrol about the project.

The regents had planned to act on a number of lesser items too, but adjourned early for lack of a quorum.

Three regents attended the meeting at Dempster Hall, and a fourth -- Donald Harrison -- participated in the early stages of the meeting by speaker phone.

But Harrison became ill and had to cut short the telephone call after the board approved the construction projects.

Don Dickerson, board president, said the unfinished business would have to be taken up at a future meeting when there would be a quorum.

The board has operated with one vacancy since the resignation of Lynn Dempster. Regent Pat Washington couldn't attend Friday's meeting.

"It is just an unfortunate situation," said Dickerson.

Southeast has requested $12.5 million to renovate 90-year-old Academic Hall. If funding is secured next year, construction could begin in 1998 and take two years to complete, school officials said.

The project is part of a series of renovations slated for the campus core. The Social Science Building is being renovated, and the school wants to renovate three other buildings on the hill, in addition to Academic Hall. The others are Serena, Art Building, and Memorial Hall.

Grauel, the language arts building at Pacific and Normal, would be renovated in fiscal 2001. But that project is so far down the road that no renovation plans have been drawn up yet.

All these projects, plus construction of a $5.5 million center for industrial technology classes, depend on securing state funding.

"As you can see, there are a lot of dominoes here," said Dr. Ken Dobbins, the school's executive vice president.

Southeast hopes to construct the technology center in fiscal 1999. Once opened, industrial technology classes would be moved out of the Serena Building, which would become the new home of the art department.

The Art Building would be converted into classrooms for other departments.

Dobbins said the open-floor areas of the Serena Building that now houses equipment for industrial technology classes can be converted easily into art studios.

Changes to Memorial Hall would include expanding the university's museum.

The English Department would move from Grauel to the third floor of Academic Hall. That would free up space for other departments in Grauel.

A number of offices, including the president's office, will remain in Academic Hall. Reception areas will be added in the wings of the campus landmark.

The Academic Hall project includes replacement of windows and the roof, and structural repairs to the dome.

"The dome is leaning in one direction," said Curt Lambdin, project manager for Sverdrup. The St. Louis firm drew up the renovation plans.

But Nitzschke said after the meeting that the dome isn't the Leaning Tower of Pisa and is in no danger of collapsing.

He said the dome is just old and in need of repairs.