NILES, Ill.—Construction is set to begin in June 2022 on expanding Culver School, a PreK-8 elementary school located in Niles, a city located 14 miles northwest of Chicago.

With a completion date slated for late summer 2023, the $14.5 million renovation and expansion project will relieve an overall space crunch and better accommodate Nile School District 71’s fast-growing early childhood program and improve conditions for final arts, physical education, and educational opportunities.

The project will add 30,000 square feet to the existing 100,000 square feet, while renovating approximately 12,000 square feet inside.

In November, the school district hired Gilbane Building Co. of Rhode Island and Chicago as the construction manager. The district has engaged STR Partners of Chicago as architect on the project.

STR Partners is planning a series of virtual meetings with stakeholders to inform parents and community members and seek their input into the plans. Later this year, final plans will be drawn up and a formal construction bidding process will begin.

“We are using every classroom now,” said School Superintendent John Kosirog, in a statement.

“Every space in the building is currently occupied, including using part of the library for classes.”

The project also includes a complete remodel of the library. The music and band rooms on the west side of the building will be converted into early childhood classrooms that will have a separate entrance and dedicated outdoor play space for the young children. The music rooms will be relocated to the new space and an orchestra room added.

The addition will include a new combination gym and fine arts stage space large enough to host school sporting and fine arts events and seat approximately 750 people. That is expected to reduce or eliminate conflicts that arise because the PE and athletics programs and the music program must share the current gym, which will remain available.

The second floor of the addition will include two new state-of-the-art STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) classrooms and an outdoor green roof that will also serve as educational space.

In the past six years, enrolment at Culver School has increased from approximately 580 students to 660 students.

“The project will allow us to create engaging, student-centered 21^st-century learning spaces for students,” said School Board President Matt Holbrook, in a statement. “We’re very excited.”

The project will be paid for from district fund balances and an anticipated $800,000 per year in new property taxes to be gained from expiration of a tax-increment financing (TIF) district. School officials say it will not require a referendum or property tax increase.

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MERCED, Calif. — The University of California, Merced recently completed the first phase of its UC Merced 2020 Project, a master-planned campus expansion project at the University of California’s newest campus.

The first three buildings, representing 20 percent of the project, were completed in August 2018 ahead of schedule. They included a 600-seat dining facility, 20 classrooms and 729 new beds of undergraduate student housing. In addition, an NCAA-level soccer field and nearly 1,000 parking spaces were added during the first phase. Ten additional buildings are currently under construction.

When complete in fall 2020, the entire project will have nearly doubled the campus’ physical capacity and will enable enrollment growth to 10,000 students. The four-year project will also nearly double campus size and boost the economy by $1.9 billion in the San Joaquin Valley and $2.4 billion statewide.

“Today we celebrate an investment in the future of UC Merced, the future of the San Joaquin Valley and future of the state of California,” said UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland at the project’s 2016 groundbreaking ceremony. “The Merced 2020 Project brings tremendous economic growth and allows UC Merced to further fulfill its promise to bring interdisciplinary learning and cutting-edge research opportunities to one of our state’s most rapidly growing regions.”

The first of the three buildings that opened in August 2018 was the Pavilion dining hall, a 37,000-square-foot building designed by SOM Architects that seats 600 people and includes three dining rooms and an outdoor terrace that seats 100.

The second building is Glacier Point Student Housing, a164,000-square-foot building designed by Mahlum Architects that will be the tallest building on campus at six stories high. The residential building will include bedrooms with single, double, and triple beds complete with study and social lounges, 10 classrooms, retail space on that ground floor, and three tennis courts located adjacent to the southern courtyard.

The third building is Granite Pass Student Housing, a 100,000-square-foot building designed by Page Architects that will be four stories high and will include bedrooms with single, double, and triple beds, 10 classrooms and student life space, study lounges and social space. The building also includes Little Lake Boardwalk.

The second phase of the project includes two new state-of-the-art buildings with labs, classrooms and additional study areas. The buildings open in fall 2019 and define the edge of a new quadrangle.

By fall 2020, the third phase of the project will be complete, and the campus expansion will have doubled the physical capacity of UC Merced.  It includes expanded student wellness and counseling facilities, additional student housing, a dedicated transit hub for buses, a student enrollment center, and a swimming pool.

The UC Merced 2020 Project has a total construction budget of $1.338 billion with $660 million expended as of August 2018. The project development team of PPM includes Plenary Group as lead developer, equity provider and financial arranger, Webcor Construction LP, as lead contractor, Skidmore Owings & Merrill Inc. as lead campus planner, and Johnson ControlsInc., as lead operations and management firm.

“Plenary Properties Merced is thrilled to be breaking ground on this historic project, which has strong potential to become a model for higher-education design and delivery,” said Dale Bonner, executive chairman of Plenary Concessions. “We look forward to completing this project on time and on budget and continuing our long-term partnership with UC Merced in the years ahead.”

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The dedication of the Dr. Richard and Leslie Ridenour Science Center goes beyond brick and mortar and recognizes the lasting impact of Marian’s 11th President, Dr. Richard Ridenour, and his commitment to creating a space for the innovative education of Marian students.

Upgrading the existing science building provided 17,000 additional square feet and created the opportunity for students to be engaged within state-of-the-art laboratories, research spaces, classrooms and numerous study areas. Designed by Eppstein Uhen Architects, the Ridenour Science Center was supported by the Fond du Lac community, private and corporate donations, and Marian faculty, staff, students and alumni to strengthen higher education within the region.

“The Ridenour Science Center has been transformational to campus, the community, and students and faculty who have been in this new learning and teaching environment. Our continued success in growing, innovating and creating new opportunities for individuals to graduate with a Marian education is a testament to the community we call home,” said Dr. Andrew Manion, president of Marian University.

The Ridenour Science Center building features include: nine teaching labs; three research labs; three prep rooms; one computer lab; seven classrooms; 18 offices; and two student collaboration areas.

Eppstein Uhen Eppstein Uhen Architects (EUA) is an architecture firm headquartered in Milwaukee, with offices in Madison, Wis., Des Moines, Iowa, and Denver.  C.D. Smith Construction has its corporate headquarters in Fond du Lac, Wis., and an office in Milwaukee.

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The new building will be constructed adjacent to the school’s existing campus and will add approximately 200,000 square feet to the campus footprint. Gehry will design three performance venues as well as an outdoor performance area, classrooms, a dance rehearsal center, and student and guest-artist housing. The expansion will also see an 1,100-seat concert hall and a 700-seat flexible studio theater for dance and vocal performances. An additional 100-seat cabaret-style space will likewise provide a space for students to strut their stuff in a more intimate setting.

Collaborating with Gehry, who is the principal and founder of Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners, is Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics (acoustician for projects, including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany) and Michael Ferguson, principal of TheatreDNA.

The current Colburn School facilities date back 20 years to when the school relocated to its 102,000-square-foot home in downtown Los Angeles. That structure was designed by the former Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. Then in 2007, the renamed firm of Pfeiffer Partners Architects designed the Colburn School’s adjoining 326,000-square-foot expansion.

“We are excited to announce a multidimensional project that not only will serve future generations of Colburn students, but also will create a crossroads for the performing arts in L.A. for musicians and dancers, both established and aspiring,” said Sel Kardan, president and CEO of the Colburn School, in a statement. “In selecting Frank Gehry for this ambitious project, we have chosen an architect with an extraordinary track record of designing educational and performance spaces, an unshakeable sense of public purpose, deep roots in Los Angeles, and a commitment to the young people of this region and young artists around the world.”

Gehry concurred with Kardan’s sentiments regarding the project. “The expansion of the Colburn School fills an important addition to the long-held dream to create a cultural district in downtown Los Angeles. The school is already an incredible asset and major player, and the expansion is a great opportunity to add breadth to this dream,” said Gehry in a statement.

The expansion of the Colburn School marks Gehry’s third building project in the area — among them the iconic (and sometimes controversial) Walt Disney Concert Hall.

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DELAND, Fla. — Stetson University in DeLand began construction on a $27 million expansion and renovation to its historic Carlton Union Building (CUB), with the help of Orlando, Fla.-based Williams Company Building Division. The refresh of the university’s central hub will help better serve students in the future.

The 62-year-old, two-story building will be transformed from a 52,000-square-foot to an 86,584-square-foot facility under three separate phases. The lobby, faculty lounge and Stetson Room are all included in the remodel, according to Williams Company’s CEO Bob Lipscomb.

Last August, the first floor of the new North Wing opened with a larger bookstore, post office and copy center as well as the CUB in the HUB information desk during the first phase of the project, according to the school’s website. After the second phase opens in August 2018, the third and final phase will bring a renovated South Wing with a new Coffee Shop, Faculty Lounge and a grander South Lobby at the end of 2018. The third phase also will include renovated offices for Hancock and other staff in Campus Life and Student Success on the second floor of the South Wing.

CUB initially opened in 1956 with all original mechanical and electrical systems in place when construction began. With the building existing at the center of student activity for the campus, it’s the university’s goal to bring the building up to modern standards for all of the systems, finishes and technology. Every portion of the building will be updated and brought up to code.

These updates come with a completely new electrical system, a backup generator for the entire building, an all-new HVAC system, a new fire sprinkler system, new standing seam roof, new windows throughout, a completely new kitchen and dining area, and new bookstore.

Lipscomb explained that the biggest challenge of the project for their team so far has been working around students in the current facility while they lounge and dine.

“The entire student body of the school eats all of their meals in this building, so we are surrounded daily by students and faculty,” said Lipscomb. “Before we demolished the existing kitchen we built a complete temporary kitchen in an adjacent metal building while the new kitchen was being built. The temporary kitchen will be utilized for about 15 months and then removed. But we are accustomed to working in high traffic areas and have many processes in place to address safety, traffic flow and temporary relocations of departments.”

The Commons dining hall and kitchen project also features an east-facing glass wall overlooking green space and a patio dining area. In addition to this, the expansion will make way for meeting rooms, a student lounge, a campus radio station and new offices for student groups.

“The CUB is our heartbeat,” said Kat Thomas, associate director of Student Development and Campus Vibrance, in a statement. “It is a place where students can find connections and know they belong throughout their experience. It is a student-owned space that will hopefully become integral to their meaning of being a Hatter.”

Completion of the new CUB is expected in the fall of 2018.

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In the half decade between 2011 and 2016, the school’s enrollment increased by nearly 50 percent. The school first addressed its growing needs by installing a modular classroom back in 2013. Because the average class size of the school has continued to grow, the new 1,240-square-foot classroom will serve as a permanent solution — for now.

The four-year-old temporary classroom, which was installed inside of a multipurpose room (that would occasional double as a community center), has found a second life as a library and an instruction space for small groups. Regaining the community space will be a boon to area residents who use it for a variety of civic functions and ceremonies.

“We’re very much conscious of, once our new classroom is built, using that as soon as it’s ready, because we want to give that space back to the community for their use,” Lisa Davenport, vice chairwoman of the Stoddard School Board and chairwoman of the James Faulkner Elementary School Building Committee, told local news source the Keene Sentinel.

“We’ve made the classroom space in the Community Room work using portable panel walls, but it is by no means ideal,” said Teaching Principal Martha LeMahieu in a statement. “The new classroom addition will give the school full use of the Community Room for what it was intended — a school gymnasium, cafeteria and Town of Stoddard Community Room.”

The new classroom is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017. MacMillin, a DEW Construction Affiliate in Keene, N.H., was the low bidder for the project, coming in at $399,500, according to a statement from the school. The total project cost is $493,000. At the Stoddard School District Annual Meeting last March, voters approved $172,000 to be raised from taxation, with the $321,000 remaining to come from the Stoddard School Build, Design, Expansion, Renovation and Construction Expendable Trust that was established in 2007.

The school has every reason to make a community room available to the area’s voters, who summoned the political will to push through a six-figure, one-time expenditure on behalf of the learning institution. The $172,000 figure was  raised via taxes and approved by voters in March 2017. Davenport expressed gratitude to voters for approving the tax. Of note is the fact that, in 2016, voters rejected a $2.2 million plan the school had presented seeking funds for renovation and additions.

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