Renovations update university?s oldest student housing facility

Sometimes starting back at square one isn't the best way to go. Southwest Mis-souri State University found it more cost-effective to renovate the Wells House student residence than to demolish the existing structure and build a new one.

Matthew Morris, interim assistant di-rector, SMSU Residence Life and Ser-vices-Facilities and Operations, pointed out "it all boils down to money; renovating balanced our budget best.

"What you run into when you want to build a new building is first you have demolition costs and then the cost of building a new structure is added on top of that. We evaluated costs. Also, Wells had such a good history, we felt better to keep the building," Morris said.

Terry Rowland, project manager, SMSU design and construction, said it was a $10 million project, including the cost of furnishing the building.

Rowland said the renovation project plan was developed through a process of consulting with the architect, GLPM Architects of Lawrence, Kan., and de-veloping a program with Residence Life on campus, and meeting requirements. DeWitt & Associates was then hired to serve as the contractor for the project.

Changes

"Before we began the process, students gave us feedback on what they wanted and we tried to incorporate that into the building," Morris said.

Wells House was closed for renovations in May 2000, and the 14-month renovation project, which was completed in time for the Fall 2001 semester, left the oldest campus residence building much different than before.

Basically the building was gutted and rebuilt inside. The U-shaped building now has two-bedroom suite-style living units as well as more traditional dorm rooms.

Other amenities include fitness and aerobic centers, music practice rooms and a 24-hour computer lab. Each room has its own thermostat for temperature control. The coed facility houses 455 students.

"The housing we provide on the SMSU campus is extremely high quality. Wells House is a super addition to that," Morris said, adding, "Students realize we are striving to provide the best for them in the most up-to-date security measures and fire alarm systems. The residence hall is designed in such a manner so as to encourage people to talk to each other and form a community."

Community is important. Morris said Wells House has always been a solid community and that's what SMSU wants to continue to promote through the design of the building. For instance, all the bathrooms are community style, with residents having to walk into the hallway to reach them.

Challenges

As Rowland put it, "old buildings are fun. Probably the biggest challenge was getting the new electrical system to where we needed it to be. Also, getting the building wired into the network for communications. Every room has at least two network connections as well as electrical outlets. Each room has an individual temperature control. Putting that into an old building which was originally steam heated and under wired for today's requirements was a lot of work."

According to Randy Ganz, senior project manager at DeWitt & Associates, there were some challenges to overcome in renovating the approximately 50 year-old building.

Besides the challenge of bringing an older building up to present code, there was the detail work.

For example, he said they had to "go in and field verify before we ordered materials; something as simple as door hinges were not spaced the same from wing to wing or floor to floor."

Coordinating also was a challenge. Ganz said it was necessary "to shut down about half the university power supply to tie in the new power supply for the new building."

Ganz found the biggest challenge to be "the final push, right before the students moved into Wells House in the fall bringing up the fire alarm systems and security systemsduring those last days it was a little hectic. We worked about eight weekends in a row."

Morris and Rowland agreed that getting the students moved in was the biggest challenge.

"We had our days when we wondered if we'd ever get done. When the students moved into the residence hall in August, we got a good shake down. There's nothing like over 400 students shaking down the building," Rowland said.

Outcome

"Working with an owner that shares construction knowledge makes projects like this a pleasure to work on," said Ganz, "We're still finishing up odds and ends."

"Students are enjoying it. It's clean, bright and with new lighting throughout. Everyone is basically happy with the facility," Rowland said.

Added Morris, "Wells House had an extremely good community in it when we shut it down. The residents were sad to see it go. Now they are excited to see the new building." He mentioned that many former residents have returned to the new Wells House.