As the University of Arkansas continues to make competitive strides in its academic and residential facilities, Mike Johnson, the UA associate vice chancellor for facilities, said about $175 million worth of construction should be finished by the time classes begin on Aug. 26.
Johnson said there are five facilities scheduled for completion before the fall semester that add up to that price. One, on the athletics side of things, is the Fred W. Smith football center, which opened Monday, but there are also two academic buildings and two residential buildings set to open next month.
“I call them the ‘Big Five,’” Johnson said. “There are two housing projects. One is the Hotz Hall renovation and for 20 years, it has been an administration facility and we have returned it to 416 beds and we have moved the Honors College up there from Pomfret, as well.
“Founders Hall is the other housing project, but it is also more than housing. It’s 214 beds of housing and it’s about 150 seats on the street level of additional retail space, kind of wrapping around from Brough Commons with additional retail. On the second floor are about 225 seats, I believe, which will expand Brough Commons. There is a connection at the second floor into Brough Commons.
“And those two projects will deliver the first week of August. Some of the retail in Founders may deliver a little later in August.
“One of the two big academic projects is Ozark Hall, which we have totally renovated the building and kind of added the missing wing. It’s now in a U-shape and that missing wing, for the first time in over 10 years, will put the Honors College spaces and administration all in one location. They’ve been in three or four buildings for those 10-plus years. That’s going to be a great facility.
“Across campus walk, we are completing the renovation of Vol Walker Hall and the addition of the Anderson Design Center, which was funded by gifts with the major gift being $10 million from the Donald W. Reynolds foundation. It’s about a $35,000-foot addition to Vol Walker.”
In addition to the ‘Big Five’ to which Johnson referred, another wave of projects will be taking place after them. The Leroy Pond Utility Plant, the Faulkner Performing Arts Center and a new classroom and lab building are scheduled to be completed in 2014, in addition to three athletics facilities that are estimated to be finished before or during the winter of 2015.
UA chancellor G. David Gearhart said he understands the difficulty when trying to navigate around campus, but he thinks once the projects that are set to be completed this August are finished, some of those complications will be relieved. He also added that he is appreciative of everyone’s patience in the midst of the construction.
“I have to compliment Mike Johnson and (vice chancellor for finance and administration) Don Pederson and their staffs for the great job they have done. But I also have to compliment the faculty and the students who have put up with it,” Gearhart said. “It’s not easy and yet they did it with minimal complaints. We got a few complaints, but frankly not that many. I think people realize that you have to go through a little bit of pain to see the gain and I think they will see that once they come back at the end of the summer.”
By Logan Wilson and Calli Berna