As usual, it was a busy summer for UM-Dearborn facilities teams, as they hustled to complete a large list of summer to-dos before campus fills up this fall. Director of Planning and Construction Emily Hamilton says one of the major priorities for the summer was making progress on moving the College of Education, Health and Human Services and College of Business from their current locations in the Fairlane Center to the main campus. The first phase of that project — a renovation of the Administration Building, the future home of CEHHS — is now well underway. Crews have finished demolition of the interior walls and are putting up new walls to establish the updated floor plan. They’ll also soon be installing several new windows in the brick facade, so that all faculty offices will have natural light. Hamilton says things are progressing so quickly, they’re already moving into the furniture planning stage for the offices and student lounges.
The AB, one of the four original campus buildings, was built in 1959 and has seen many renovations over the years, including a major one in the 1980s. Fortunately, thus far, Hamilton says they haven’t run into any major surprises. “We’ve been working with the original design drawings, which are hand drawn, and didn’t include any changes that might have been made during the original construction phase, so you never know what you’re going to find,” she says. “The building used to have a library and a kitchen, so contractors found things like an old grease trap and quarry tile hidden away in the walls, but nothing that has slowed us down.” Hamilton says everything is on track to move in CEHHS faculty and staff next summer. The Chancellor’s office, Provost’s office and other administrative staff who have temporarily relocated to the Social Sciences Building during the renovation will also move back to the AB next summer.
Plans for renovating the SSB, the future home of COB, are also moving ahead. Hamilton says COB and facilities teams are working through the last stage of design for this larger-scale renovation, which will feature some substantial changes to the building’s interior and exterior. For example, the SSB’s auditorium-style lecture halls will be modified, and about half of the space will be brought to ground level to house the college’s Bloomberg Lab and a new multipurpose “hub” for Supplemental Instruction, iLabs and the Mitchell Business Communication Lab. Crews will also be widening the main hallway to carve out new lounge and study spaces. On the outside of the building, the SSB’s current brick archway on the north side of the building will be removed, and the front of the building will feature a new glass entrance, bringing some natural light to a space that’s always been on the darker side.
This summer, Hamilton says crews also moved the remaining occupants out of Fairlane Center North. Information Technology Services moved to the Science Faculty Center; Disability and Accessibility Services relocated to the second floor of the Renick University Center; the Center for Labor and Community Studies moved to the first floor of the SSB; and the Armenian Research Center has a new home on the fourth floor of the Mardigian Library. The Robotics Lab will be moved to the Heinz Prechter Engineering Complex/Tony England Engineering Lab Building by Labor Day. Classes and events are no longer scheduled in FCN, and FCN will be closed to the public and the campus community, with the exception of minimal maintenance activities.
The ELB has also been the scene of some major projects. On the rooftop, prep work is now underway for the construction of a solar array — the first renewable energy project on the UM-Dearborn campus. The project is being funded by a $500,000 donation from alum Mark Ritz and his wife, Lee Gorman, a U-M alum, longtime donors who also supported the ELB during its construction phase. Inside the building, Hamilton says crews have been working on equipment installation to support 3D metal printing, as well as a safety evaluation and lab modifications to further battery research capabilities on campus. “So we’re already retrofitting our newest building for new research,” Hamilton says. “We expect that is going to be happening pretty continuously as the engineering disciplines evolve.”
Planning also began this summer for one of the first major projects in the Comprehensive Campus Plan: a reimagined “front door” to campus along Evergreen Road. Hamilton says the first phase of that project includes new signage, plantings and some low stone walls at the central entry along Evergreen Road. They’re also working on strategies for softening the visual impact of the parking lots to make this area more welcoming.
Facilities teams made progress on a slew of infrastructure projects as well, including the installation of a new chiller at the library, structural and resurfacing work on the parking structure, and the completion of roofing projects on the Mardigian Library and the RUC. “We had been setting aside funds for several years specifically to complete the roof work,” Hamilton says. “Ideally, you’d address the roof before renovating the interior, but in this case the timing worked out differently. I’m very glad the RUC now has a strong, reliable roof in place to safeguard the new improvements inside.”
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Story by Lou Blouin
