East Central College trustees gave their approval Monday, March 1, to begin renovation of the Administration Building on the College campus in Union.  

        Architects with the Lawrence Group presented preliminary drawings and floor plans for the remodeling project.  Bids will be sought this month for the asbestos abatement and demolition portion of the project with the plan to begin that work in May.  College officials hope that construction will get underway in late June and that the building will be ready to re-occupy in July of 2011. 

        Tim Rowbottom and Sharon Henderson, Lawrence Group architects, estimate that costs for the project will total $10 to $10.5 million.  By capturing space along the recessed window areas on the first floor and aligning them with the second story walls of the building as well as creating a new stairwell and entryways, the facility will total 58,217 square feet. 

          Dr. Jon Bauer, vice president of finance, explained that funding for the project will come from three sources.  “We have more than $2.4 million remaining from the Prop RN bond issue approved by district voters in August of 2006,” stated Bauer. “A portion of the almost $1.3 million in campus improvement funds can be allocated to this project, with the remainder to be taken from our unrestricted fund balance.”  Bauer noted that would leave the college with nearly $1.3 million in unrestricted funds and a projected $4 million balance in the restricted fund at the end of the project.

          Rowbottom stated that once the demolition and abatement are completed the only things remaining will be the structural steel frame and the pre-cast concrete panels that make up the building exterior.  “Several of the panels will be removed to allow us to install windows to bring more light into the building.  We plan to match the glass used in the new Health and Science Building and theatre atrium to tie the buildings together,” Rowbottom stated. “In our conversations with college personnel, their primary focus has been on the students: improving service to students, creating a place where students want to spend some time, and making the facility more accessible.”

            Before demolition and abatement begin in May, departments and staff now located in the Administration Building will be relocated temporarily to other buildings on campus. “The Learning Center functions will move to the first and second floors of the Multipurpose Building, most student services will operate out of the Training Center, several administrative offices will be housed in the HS and AC Buildings and the Library will be set in a temporary building on the parking lot at the northwest corner of the Health and Science Building,” Bauer said.  The Administration Building is expected to be vacated by the end of April. College officials recognize the temporary moves will be an inconvenience, but plan to maintain a high level of student service during the construction project.

          “It’s important that the building be preserved and more effectively utilized,” said Dr. Ed Jackson, ECC president.  “We looked at the possibility of new construction to house some of the functions now contained in the building, but that left the Administration Building untouched and just delayed the improvements that would eventually have to be made to the structure.”

        The Administration Building was the first facility constructed on the campus.  The first classes were held there in January of 1972.  It houses the library, learning center, general classrooms and most of the administrative and student service offices.