By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The plan of constructing a new “signature building” on campus to house the School of Business has been scrapped. Instead, one of Bowling Green State University’s Traditions Buildings, Hanna Hall, will be renovated and added onto to house the College of Business.
While the decision was made months ago, it was news to many at the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday.
Steve Krakoff, vice president for capital planning and campus operations, presented to the senate his annual review of construction projects on campus, including plans for Hanna Hall.
One senator, Bill Albertini, of English, asked if he had been dreaming when he’d heard that the Education Building would come down after a new School of Business was built.
No, Krakoff said, it was not a dream. “There’s comfort there.” Plans change as needs and resources are assessed. The second floor of the Education Building has been renovated with high tech classrooms.
In the case of the School of Business it came down to money. Krakoff said university officials studied three options: renovating the existing building, constructing a new School of Business, or renovating Hanna Hall.
They concluded that even after spending “tens of millions of dollars,” the existing building would not meet the program’s needs.
A new building would cost $53 million to build now, but by 2020 or 2021 when the project would be started, inflation would push the cost to $79 million.
In August, 2014, Krakoff said that the university was hoping to find private funding for the project.
The Hanna renovation would cost $39 million today, and $49 million when the project commenced. Also “it has advantages of location and prominence on campus second to none.”
However, giving up on a new signature building will mean that a signature feature of BGSU, the Gish Film Theater, will be uprooted. “I understand that’s a sensitive subject,” Krakoff said.
The current plans call for the theater, gallery and video archive and screening room to be moved. “The plan does include finding another location that acknowledges its historical significance,” he said.
University officials will work to find a suitable home for the theater, said Dave Kielmeyer, director of the office of Marketing and Communication. Work wouldn’t start in the building for three years, so the university has time to find a new home for the theater honoring the Ohio-born silent movie stars, Lillian and Dorothy Gish.
Provost Rodney Rogers said he was glad to see all the tape going up around campus, cordoning off the construction sites in the center of campus.
The traditions buildings are central to BGSU’s legacy, he said. “This is important work restoring these to their glory and making them into cutting-edge teaching spaces.”
Moseley is first on line to be completed, then University Hall, with the Hanna renovation following that.
