The project to renovate Clark Hall officially began with a groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday.
The $30 million dollar project will add needed space to the Department of Environmental Sciences and improve and expand the Science and Engineering Library.
Project manager Chris Willis of Facilities Management said the groundbreaking was a symbolic event, which included speeches by Assoc. Provost Shirley Menaker, Department of Environmental Sciences Chairman Jim Galloway, and University Librarian Karin Wittenborg. Actual site work will not begin until August 1.
David E. Smith, associate chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences, said the event was a good time. He said Galloway and Sandy Kerbel, director of the Science and Engineering Library, used a backhoe to break the ground, followed by music and catering from Big Jim's.
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The site work will include excavation and tree removal in preparation of an addition to the south side of the building to be built where there is currently a parking lot.
The addition will be four stories and will add 30,000 square feet to the building. Most of the space will be used for environmental science research labs and part of the new addition will house a reading room for the Science and Engineering library.
Smith said Clark Hall, which was built in the 1930s as the Law School, was not designed for lab use and has very poor research space.
He said the revamping of Clark Hall is a "fantastic opportunity for the department to have state of the art research facilities."
University and state funds will account for $20 million towards the project, while the remaining $10 million was given by a private donor, Paul Tuder Jones, who graduated from the College with an economics degree in 1976.
While he did not study environmental sciences at the University, he has a "deep interest," in the environment, according to Smith.
The first half of the project - construction of the addition - is scheduled to be finished in the summer of 2001.
According to Willis, the second stage will be completed in late spring of 2002 and will include extensive renovations of the inside of Clark Hall.
"Clark Hall is one of the most confusing buildings I've ever been in," he said.
The planned renovations include making the building easier to navigate by adding north to south and east to west hallways, and adding elevators.
Sprinkler systems and central air also will be added, he said.
Kerbel said the Science and Engineering Library will benefit from the project with the addition of fully wired study rooms, more comfortable seating and an expanded multimedia area.
Other renovations include making the bathrooms easier to find and code compliant - adding handicapped access.
Becca White, asst. director of Parking and Transportation, said most of the people who park behind Clark Hall will be relocated to the large lot behind Cabell Hall during construction.
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