Downtown Campus Getting a Face-lift
Morgantown, WV, July 26, 2006: Work on the Downtown Campus centers around renovating Oglebay, Brooks and Colson halls and upgrading infrastructure to provide air conditioning to the buildings.
The Oglebay project involves renovating the existing structure to house the popular forensic and investigative science program and constructing a 15,000-square-foot addition. The addition will include large lecture halls and feature a rooftop parking lot. The two structures will be attached by a pedestrian bridge from the parking lot to the second floor of Oglebay.
Interior work has begun on Oglebay, and excavation for the addition got under way in June, said Joe Fisher, associate vice president for facilities and services.
Oglebay Hall, built in 1918 to house WVU’s agricultural program, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and contractor Massaro Corp. of Pittsburgh is making every effort to see that the renovations are consistent with the building’s architectural history, Fisher said.
The $20.7 million project is scheduled to be completed in May 2007.
Brooks Hall, built in 1951 as the biology building, is being renovated to house the Department of Geology and Geography. The 91,500-square-foot structure will feature a 350-seat lecture hall and six classrooms; a green roof employing plants to improve insulation and reduce storm water runoff; and a pedestrian bridge linking the facility to Woodburn Circle.
The interior demolition of the building has been completed, and reconstruction began in early March, Fisher said. The structural steel should be in place by the end of the month.
March-Westin of Morgantown is the contractor for the $22 million project. Scheduled completion date is May 2007.
Workers, meanwhile, have completed the interior demolition of Colson Hall, which is being renovated to house the Department of English, Fisher said.
Architects with McKinley and Associates of Wheeling have also begun designing the renovations, he added.
Reconstruction is scheduled to begin in December, with completion set for November 2007.
The downtown infrastructure project involves adding air conditioning units at the Life Sciences Building and Chemistry Research Laboratory and extending piping from those units to Oglebay, Brooks and Colson halls.
This will provide central air conditioning to these buildings, Fisher said, adding that replacing the window units will conserve energy. Wayne Crouse is the contractor for the project, which is expected to be completed in January 2007.
To view renderings of the completed projects, please visit http://www.as.wvu.edu/newroot/about/enhance.html.
W-V-U