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December 2007
McFadden Hall renovations are very close to being completed. Many areas are finished and on November 28 movers began to move furniture, equipment and supplies back into certain laboratories in McFadden Hall. Finishing touches will continue during the next few weeks; however, much of the building is ready to be inhabited once again. Classes will resume in McFadden Hall in January 2008.
The interior of McFadden Hall includes a new floor plan with expanded laboratory spaces, classrooms with upgraded technology, additional faculty offices, an inviting entryway with wider hallways and higher ceilings, large energy efficient windows throughout the building, and a new sprinkler system. The color scheme, cabinets, floor tiles and carpeting give the building an esthetically pleasing feel.
A major part of this renovation called for repairing and refinishing the plaster walls. In the United States, plaster has been replaced with various other materials - most commonly drywall. As a result it is difficult to find contractors that are skilled who specialize in plaster renovation. A special team of plaster contractors were brought to the United States from Croatia especially to work on this project. They did a masterful job!
One of the next steps will be to clean the exterior of the building. Many of the bricks and the concrete trim are discolored from typical wear caused by being exposed to the elements. Power washing could harm the exterior of the building, so instead a special chemical will be applied and then gently washed away. When this process is finished the exterior of the building should look like new.
Within a relatively short period of time the construction fencing around McFadden Hall will be removed, the temporary truck entrance and equipment lot will be removed, and new landscaping will be put into place.
The Schear Hall portion of the science building will undergo major construction beginning after the first of the year. The new 30,000 square foot addition is scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2009. Stay tuned for further updates and pictures as they become available.
