Townsend Hall project spreads educators far and wide

by Jon Stemmle

n paper, the Townsend Hall renovation looked simple. Gut the building, update the 1930s era classrooms and offices, complete with data ports for computers, and finish it as a modernized jewel for the College of Education.

What wasn't easy, however, was moving the facility's 150 faculty, staff and graduate students into swing space in other buildings, where they would be housed temporarily. They needed working space while continuing to instruct 1,200 undergraduate and 900 graduate students until the renovation is completed in summer 2000.

Townsend Hall is the first major renovation project in several years on the MU campus. The project calls for a complete renovation of the entire building and additions filling in and adding new classroom and office space to two alcoves on the building's north side.

For Bobb Swanson, a facilities project manager in Campus Facilities' Planning, Design & Construction, the swing-space aspect of the Townsend renovation was a unique, and relatively new, problem.

"When the renovation got the green light we knew we had to relocate the people in the building, but we had nowhere to relocate them," said Swanson, who in his 11 years as a project manager with PD&C has managed such projects as Lee Hills Hall and the Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building.

One early plan had Townsend being renovated in phases: first the eastern half, then the western half, much like the sixth-floor, Medical Science Building renovation. In this scenario, half of Townsend's occupants were to have been placed in other buildings while the remainder would stay and switch sides as construction progressed. That plan, however, proved impossible.

"There was so much work needing to be done to Townsend that phases were not possible," said Swanson. "The whole building needed to be gutted at once. A major problem was locating identifiable swing space. We needed a building with offices and classrooms where the occupants of Townsend could move for 18 months. That space isn't available on this campus."

Moving ahead

The Townsend Hall renovation and addition will not be complete until Summer 2000. During that time the College of Education staff is strewn throughout the MU campus because of a lack of swing space.

The moving problems experienced by the Townsend staff could become even worse due to the lack of swing-space on campus. Before McReynolds and McDavid Halls were renovated, these buildings were prime swing space because of their available offices. Although each still had some available space, it was insufficient to house the Townsend group that formerly occupied a 75,000-gross-square-foot building.

"We have discussed the issue of swing space for years," said Larry Edwards, director of Facilities Management at Campus Facilities. "Normally the college to finds space to house its people during renovation projects.

"It can be difficult for some colleges, like Education, without a lot of available space. The College of Agriculture has much more available space on campus," he added. "The College of Education was having its main building renovated and didn't have many options. That's why the Education staff are housed in different locations."

Peering out from the shell that is now Townsend Hall, it's hard not to see the construction crew working on some part of the building.

The College of Education is now unified in name only. With Townsend's renovation, the college has been strewn geographically about campus into such buildings as McKee and Rothwell Gymnasiums and McReynolds Hall.

A possible solution to the problem of swing space is to designate Middlebush Hall as a swing-space building once its occupants move into Cornell Hall sometime in early 2002. Middlebush offers three floors of offices and classrooms. Another possibility is that swing space won't be needed. Major renovation projects do not occur every year. Aside from small renovations, such as redoing a building floor, projects the size of Townsend aren't often seen on campus. Donors typically support new buildings as opposed to fixing older ones.

"We need to be careful," said Edwards. "While Middlebush could be the first really good swing space on campus, you don't want it sitting empty waiting for renovation projects. You can't assign it permanent occupants or it'll lose its purpose. It's a difficult problem that we may face again with another renovation project of this size."

Final steps

Once the renovation nears completion the project will turn toward an addition to the building, which will "fill-in" two alcoves on its north side, effectively turning an "E"-shaped Townsend into more of a rectangle and adding significant office and classroom space.