Last modified: Friday, April 2, 2010
Long-awaited renovation project to get under way at IU South Bend
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2010
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A financing plan is complete and preparations are now under way to take construction bids on the long-awaited renovation of the Education and Arts Building at Indiana University South Bend.
The bonding plan received final approval by the Indiana Finance Authority last month, and work is now under way to finalize design plans, university officials announced today. Bids will be taken yet this year with construction expected to begin by winter. Construction is estimated to cost in the range of $20 million.
"This project has been a long-standing critical need for the South Bend campus, and I am delighted that we are now in position to move toward completion," IU President Michael A. McRobbie said. "It was especially important that we move this year because construction costs have fallen substantially due to the weak economy, and we anticipate that we will see some very attractive bids for this project."
Once completed, the Education and Arts Building will be the home to the School of Education, fine arts programs from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of Arts and the dental hygiene program from the College of Health Sciences.
This modern, high-tech classroom building will include computer labs, conference rooms, student lounges, a 130-seat lecture hall, rehearsal rooms, photography lab, painting and drawing studios, video lab, dental hygiene clinic, patient consultation area, restrooms and offices. Nearly 2,000 students will use the facility on a regular basis.
"This renovation is vital to the future of our campus," said IU South Bend Chancellor Una Mae Reck. "The facility will provide a modern teaching and learning environment and will complete the physical layout of the campus."
Reck noted that both students and the community have been waiting a long time for this renovation project.
"It will greatly improve the student experience, prepare the campus for further growth, and create some much-needed local jobs," Reck said. "The project is the result of a lot of hard work from state legislators, the Governor's office, Indiana University administrators and IU South Bend students, faculty, staff and alumni. I am grateful for their support. The benefits of this project will be seen for generations to come."
The Education and Arts Building is a 129,000-square-foot facility built in 1958. It sits at a premiere location on campus at the corner of Ruskin and Esther streets. The two story building was part of a 13-acre parcel purchased by Indiana University from the Associates Corporation of North America in December of 1974. The purchase included four buildings and 14 residential structures.
The project was orginally approved by the 2007 General Assembly and was subsequently approved by the State Budget Committee last Fall.
