Students returning to Ohio University next fall will find their campus refreshed and renewed.
The OU Board of Trustees approved the improvement of College Green during their March meeting.
Repainting the iconic Cutler Hall is one of the first items on the agenda. The building will receive $750,000 from the state appropriations to freshen up the window and door trims of the building, said Harry Wyatt, associate vice president of architecture design and construction.
The money will also go towards painting Chubb, Wilson and McGuffey halls, but those projects will take place later in the summer because window air conditioner units will have to be decommissioned prior to the painting, Wyatt said.
The brick walkways on College Green leading up to Cutler Hall will also be rehabilitated.
The goal of these changes is to “improve access to bike racks and receptacles” and “improve function, safety, appearance and enhance the pedestrian experience,” according to the Board of Trustee’s March Agenda.
OU will use $1.25 million from university reserves to make these changes.
Scripps Hall will also benefit from the College Green improvements. The roof of the building is made of clay tiles and is in need of repairs, Wyatt said.
The tiles will be individually removed, inspected and reused if they are in good condition.
“We are able to salvage 90 percent of that tile, and we are very proud of that number.” Wyatt said. About 9 percent, or $400,000 of the $4.4 million Schoonover Center Phase 2 schematic design budget will go towards replacing the tiles, Wyatt said.
Another portion of that allocation — distributed at the March Board of Trustees meeting — will go toward asbestos abatement in the Radio Television Building, Wyatt said.
The Templeton Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium won’t look drastically different, but it will be fresh and clean for returning students.
The limestone on the exterior of the auditorium will be cleaned, windows and doors will be repainted, interior water damage and exterior lighting will all be improved and repaired during the summer. State appropriations will fund the $1.5 million project.
In addition to the smaller repairing and refacing work taking place, several larger projects will begin this summer.
Tupper Hall, the former home of the Offices of Undergraduate Distance Learning and Summer Sessions, which closed in 2001, will become classroom swing space after renovations.
Directly following graduation, a year long project to rehabilitate the building will begin. Some parts of University Terrace will be shut down during construction to add utility lines to the building and the project will cost $10 million to fund.
Tupper Hall’s renovation costs will total $10 million, with $7 million coming from university bond funding and $3 million from state appropriations.
Lindley Hall, the former home of African-American studies, interdisciplinary arts, and military sciences, will get a similar update. The building was taken offline in 2013 due to problems with the heating and steam pipes.
Unlike Tupper Hall, Lindley should not shut down adjacent streets during construction. The project will begin this summer at the cost of approximately $10.9 million, with $4 million coming from the issuing of university debt, $2 million from state appropriations and $4.9 million from university reserves.
Underneath College Green runs a series of utility tunnels. The tunnels specifically below Park Place will be repaired during the summer for about $1.2 million funded by state appropriations.
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