Wells Hall to receive upgrades and expansion

---

Tweet

MSU officials gathered in the Wells Hall east plaza Thursday to take part in a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the official beginning of an expansion at the building.

The expansion will add three stories above the B-wing of Wells Hall, adding about 88,000 square feet of additional learning space. The project is set to be complete by August 2012.

Once complete, the building will offer a creative, modern and open environment for students, university engineer Bob Nestle said. The expansion of Wells Hall comes in the wake of plans to demolish Morrill Hall, as the loss of one hall afforded the university a unique opportunity to upgrade and expand on another, Nestle said.

“We came to the conclusion a few years ago that it was not economically feasible to upgrade the (Morrill Hall) structure,” Nestle said. “That was when the thinking for a creative alternative started to take hold.”

Once the Wells Hall expansion is completed, the university will proceed with its plan to demolish Morrill Hall, according to a statement from MSU.

In keeping with the university’s ongoing theme of being ‘green’ and environmentally conscious, Nestle also said the renovations will expand further upon that mission by showcasing new technologies that are energy efficient and intuitive.

“The building will be better insulated, and the interior is designed to allow natural light to penetrate deep into the building rather than just at the perimeter,” he said. “There will be a green roof as well. It’s features like this that will make the building a pleasure to be in and energy efficient.”

The building is designed to feel fully integrated with the surrounding campus and the new park space outside, said Barb Kranz, Office of Planning and Budgets interim director.

“There’s going to be a lot of glass so people will be able to be in the building while still enjoying what’s happening outside around it,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the connections that will result because of it.”

Although the entire project isn’t expected to be completed until 2012, lecture halls in the B-wing are planned to reopen at the beginning of the fall 2011 semester, Kranz said.

The entire project is estimated to cost about $38 million and will be bonded using student fees as the basis for the bond payments, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said.

The about $38 million project includes the construction on Wells Hall and the demolition of Morrill Hall.

When Wells Hall originally opened, it served as a crossroads on campus that offered a state-of-the-art learning space with advanced technology, Simon said. The expansion of the building offered the university the opportunity to re-establish that original purpose.

“This was supposed to be a place on campus that represented the most innovative teaching space … and what we’re doing is going back to the sense of that building and assuring that the most cutting-edge technology for the 21st century for teaching and learning is a part of that,” she said.

The expanded space in Wells Hall also will serve as a hub that will emphasize the importance of language in the 21st century, Simon said.

“We wanted to show the connection with the international studies and programs and the importance of language and culture including English,” she said.

No-preference freshman Shelby Lowe, who has classes in Wells Hall, expressed a positive reaction to the university’s construction plans.

“I think the renovations will really be a good thing for the students here,” Lowe said.

“I haven’t been inconvenienced by the renovations and I think the university has done a good job of moving students around.”

---