By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
Eastern Washington University's planned remodeling of its main classroom building is finally beginning to inch forward.
Originally targeted for bidding last October and awarded in November, the first phase of the $26.6 million Patterson Hall project is getting under way this spring. The reasons for the delay are partly due to concerns about funding and how best to set up phasing of the work, EWU director of construction and planning services KC Traver said.
“There has been a lot of discussion going on with that,” Traver said last Friday. “Plus, it's pretty disruptive to empty the university's largest classroom building for four years.”
Built in 1969, Patterson houses the majority of Eastern's undergraduate liberal arts courses and is used by the College of Arts and Letters, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the English Language Institute. At 103,218 square feet, it has 120 offices and 40 classrooms, capable of seating 1,478 students.
In order to begin the first phase of the remodel, which includes construction of a two-story, 30,000 square foot U-shaped addition, the university has had to not only empty the building but also provide new offices and classrooms in “surge” or overflow space in other buildings.
That work has been ongoing over the fall and winter quarters. Office space for faculty is now being provided in the former Reid Laboratory School and the newly remodeled Hargreaves Hall along with Cheney Hall and a few spaces in Tawanka Commons.
Traver said space for labs dislocated from Patterson is being completed in Williamson and Cheney halls. Portables for classrooms have been set up on the old tennis courts immediately south of the Physical Education Building, and additional classrooms will be built in the first floor lounge of Louise Anderson Hall dormitory.
While the Legislature appropriated $26.6 million in the 2009-2011 biennial budget for Phase One, Traver said only $15 million to $16 million of that will go towards actual construction and remodeling. The rest will go towards other work on the building.
Eastern has awarded a contract for interior demolition and removal and abatement of asbestos to the tune of just over $1 million. Traver said that work should begin the first day after spring break.
Another contract for an estimated $500,000 in utility relocation work had a bid opening date of March 9. The actual construction of the addition and remodeling work is now scheduled to bid in early April, with an award being made around mid-May and the start of construction hopefully kicking off sometime in mid-September, Traver said.
The $34.4 million projected for Phase 2 of the remodel won't be appropriated until the 2011-2013 biennial cycle. Traver was cautious about those funds being available, considering the budgeting woes currently facing the state. Eastern officials have expressed confidence the Legislature will provide the money to complete the entire remodeling, but just in case, construction on Patterson is supposed to be done in such a way as to return the building to functionality should Phase 2 funding disappear.
As part of the current process, Traver said that old equipment and furnishings from Patterson are now being sold as surplus to the public. Those sales are being done in bulk, he added, meaning someone can't go buy a single chair or desk for example.
“Those (sales) are ongoing,” Traver said.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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