Construction on the $176 million Hancher Auditorium, located on the university’s Arts Campus, should wrap up this spring. Soft-opening events are planned for this summer before the curtain officially rises on the 2016-17 inaugural season this fall. Exterior work on the building is about 95 percent complete, with 14,000 brushed steel panels all in place, reported Iowa City Press-Citizen. The 191,977-square-foot building’s interior, however, is about 85 percent complete. Minneapolis-headquartered M.A. Mortenson Company is serving as the construction manager on the project, while New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based OPN Architects are serving as the architects.

The approximately 1,800-seat auditorium is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. Not only will it feature a multipurpose theater and front-of-house and back-of-house support spaces, it will also include rehearsal room, administrative offices and School of Music program space such as a scene shop, costume shop, recording studio and performing arts production offices, according to the university’s online project information.

The $77 million Art Building, also located on the university’s Arts Campus, should also be ready in time for classes in August 2016. The 126,597-square-foot Art Building will replace the former complex, and is nearly 600 square feet larger than the original in order to account for updated code requirements. The new building will feature art studio spaces, which are currently being housed in a former Menards retail building. Natural light will be incorporated into the four-plus-story structure, which is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Miron Construction is serving as the construction manager, while New York-based Steven Holl Architects and Des Moines, Iowa-based BNIM Architects are serving as the architects.

Located on the university’s South Campus, the $152 million Voxman Music Building is being built for the School of Music. It will include classrooms, teaching studios, a library, faculty and administrative offices, recital spaces and the replacement of a 700-seat recital and organ hall. The two first floors of the six-story building feature concrete, while a steel structure makes up the remaining four stories. The 189,289-square-foot building is designed for LEED Silver certification. M.A. Mortenson Company is also serving as the construction manager on this project, while Seattle-based LMN Architects and locally based Neumann Monson PC are serving as the architects.

Another major construction project scheduled for completion in mid-2016 is the 14-story UI Children’s Hospital. Construction on the $292 million hospital began in April 2013 and also includes a $65 million parking structure. The project will include 480,000 square feet of new construction and 56,250 square feet of renovated existing space. The original hospital opened in 1919. Providence, R.I.-headquartered Gilbane Building Company is working as construction manager on this project, while New York-based Norman Foster Partners, locally based Heery International and Atlanta-based Stanley Beaman & Sears Architecture and Interiors are working as the architects.
 

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As owner’s representative, Heery will be responsible for program management on roughly half of the projects identified in the school system’s Safety, Music, Art, Athletics, Renovations and Technology (SMART) initiative. Work will include roofing, building envelope and HVAC replacements, safety and security improvements, and technology upgrades, according to a statement by Heery International. A small number of building additions are also included on the project list.

“We are delighted to begin work with the Broward County Public Schools,” said Rob Chomiak, a senior vice president and Heery’s national director of program management, in a statement. “The School Board is showing a strong commitment to education and ensuring that students in Broward have access to quality school facilities.”

Of the $984 million allocated, $730.4 million will go toward renovation projects and $125.6 million will be dedicated to safety improvements. An additional $80.8 million will be spent on technology, while music and art will receive $39.8 million. Athletic improvements will total $7.4 million. Although the investment is considerable, the $984 million expenditure will address only a third of the nearly $3 billion in needs identified by a recent comprehensive facilities assessment, according to a statement by Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie and School Board Chair Donna Korn published in The Sun Sentinel. The first series of bonds were issued in June 2015.

Broward County Public Schools is the sixth largest public school system in the United States and the second largest in the state of Florida. It educates more than 265,000 students and approximately 175,000 adult students across 238 schools, centers and technical colleges, and 104 charter schools.
 

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School Construction News recently spoke with representatives from Heery International — an Atlanta-based professional services firm specializing in program management, architecture, engineering and construction management — about how school districts are bouncing back and reinvesting in critical infrastructure. David Waggoner, former Council of Educational Facility Planners International president chair and vice president and national K-12 market director, based in Heery’s Houston office, and Rob Chomiak, senior vice president and national director of program management in the Atlanta office, shared their thoughts on securing capital improvement funding and keeping schools in top working order in a post-recession world.

Q. How are renovation, expansion and capital improvement needs among K-12 schools changing?

Waggoner: Catching up on deferred maintenance is certainly a trend…because [it has] been neglected over the last eight years when the recession hit. During those years districts have spent money on some things, but not necessarily on the systems that need to be maintained.

Chomiak: I think the type of district — whether it’s urban or more suburban — also impacts programs and priorities. You see different issues with different sized districts.

A lot of districts are dealing with growth. You see a demographic change, especially in urban districts, where schools are not always in the locations that they need to be. Districts are trying to figure out how to either maintain schools that aren’t being fully utilized — or even close them, which is always a huge political issue — and how to get more schools in areas that are growing faster. Land and other things always become an issue when you try to do that.

Q. How might K-12 renovation or expansion projects affect school safety and security?

Waggoner: My philosophy about safety and security is that it needs to be well coordinated with other aspects of a school. It’s a mistake to simply say that the facility will address all the safety and security needs. It really needs to be holistic in terms of operations maintenance, training employees and technology. All of the aspects of a school system and operation need to be engaged in a safety program.

Chomiak: The things that have been happening around the country and around the world [in terms of school violence] have greatly impacted what school districts are looking for in terms of safety and security, to a much more heightened level. A lot more renovation projects that we’re seeing now are very specific to those changes.

From a technology standpoint, it’s almost been an improvement. For a while the big push was to add technology, which meant adding a lot of low-voltage cabling to classrooms, a lot of infrastructure. As technology has progressed, it’s actually eased off of that because of improvements in wireless capabilities of systems. You don’t necessarily have to run as much cable or have as much backbone in the school as you used to.

Q. Can renovation and improvement projects really deliver 21st century learning spaces, or does modern education more often require new facilities?

Waggoner: We want to try to house 21st century learning styles and approaches in existing facilities, but it can be a challenge depending on how the existing building is constructed. A lot of it has to be addressed on a case-by-case basis simply because a lot of the older school buildings are built as double-loaded corridors. They may have masonry load-bearing walls that you cannot knock down. So, it’s much more difficult to provide open environments, transparent classrooms and various flexible learning spaces. Certainly it’s easier in a new facility, but it can be done in an older facility if [districts are] willing to spend the bucks and be really creative.

Read more about the outlook for post-recession K-12 capital improvement projects in the July/August issue of School Construction News.

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The center, estimated to cost up to $23 million, will address the academic, nutritional, personal and professional development of all student athletes, creating an integrated academic support program focused on student-athlete graduation, according to a statement by the university. It will become the new home of the Bogle Academic Center and will provide multiple learning environments, including academic advising and course preparation, leadership training through the Razorback Leadership Academy career planning and service learning.

A large portion of the new facility will be dedicated to tutoring spaces. Eleven large tutoring rooms will be available for gatherings of six to eight students, while 20 smaller study rooms will accommodate groups of two to four students. An estimated 5,000 square feet of open study and lounge space will also be included, as well as large and small computer labs. Twenty-five offices will be included for staff and academic counselors, and a 150-seat auditorium will host Razorback Leadership Academy events, seminars, guest speakers and other presentations. The facility’s dining hall and full-service kitchen will have a capacity of 250, and an on-site wellness area will include space for staff nutritionists, psychologists and other student athlete development professionals.

“Not only will this facility impact these student athletes while they are here on this campus, but it will impact them the rest of their lives,” said Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long at the facility’s groundbreaking ceremony.

The center will feature the Razorbacks’ trademark cardinal red throughout, along with white and black accents and a variety of natural textures and materials. In addition to wood-lined accent walls and river rock, glass and metal railings will be included along stairwells and open, multi-level spaces. Floor-to-ceiling window expanses in several highly trafficked areas, such as the dining room and entryway, will introduce natural light to the space.

The facility received a high-profile boost in January from former Razorback football player Jerry Jones and wife Gene Jones, owners of the Dallas Cowboys football team. The two donated more than $10 million to the project, which was subsequently named the Jerry and Gene Jones Family Student-Athlete Success Center.

“The Jerry and Gene Jones Family Student-Athlete Success Center will serve as inspiration to all current and future Razorback student athletes, reminding them of the limitless opportunities available when they combine a degree from a nationally respected institution with the invaluable experiences gained through competing in intercollegiate athletics at the University of Arkansas,” Long said in a statement.

University trustees approved construction of the Student-Athlete Success Center in September 2012. WD&D of Little Rock, Ark., together with Heery International Inc. of Atlanta, designed the success center. VCC of Little Rock, Ark., is constructing the facility, which will likely be completed by late summer or early fall in 2015. Designers expect the center to earn LEED Silver or Green Globes’ Two Globes certification.

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Heery International, with offices in Baltimore, designed the $33 million center that stands at 112,000 square feet.

“The ultimate goal, in our collaboration with the Heery International Design Team, was to integrate state-of-the-art medical equipment with high fidelity simulation. This integration will provide our students with the ability to demonstrate competency in the laboratory setting before working with actual patients,” said Angela D. Anderson, dean of health sciences, in a statement.
The new center will also expand the school’s health science programs. The new facility will provide classrooms and laboratory space for programs including diagnostic medical sonography, physician’s assistant and surgical technology.

The construction of the Center for Health Studies was prompted by an increasing demand for health care professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2010 and 2020 job opportunities for registered nurses will grow by 26 percent, for pharmacy technicians 32 percent, 28 percent for radiologic technologists and the need for emergency medical technicians will grow by 33 percent. The community college is also expecting to see their student population flourish by about 33 percent over the next eight years. The construction of the new center will be able to accommodate the growing student population and offer more opportunities to that population in the upcoming job market.

“The college partnered with state and county governments to create the Center for Health Studies in response to a growing demand for trained healthcare providers,” Anderson said. “Opening the new center allows the college to expand and enhance existing clinical programs and develop new areas of specialization to address workforce shortages,” she added.”

The center will include 11 smart classrooms, one health science computer lab, 26 simulation labs, 52 faculty offices, 19 staff and administrative offices, a collegian center and advisement space.

The building will house existing health science and technology programs in health information management and medical coder biller; nursing; radiography; respiratory therapy; nuclear medicine; emergency medical technician on the basic, intermediate and paramedic levels; medical assistant; optometric assistant; and pharmacy technician.

Students will attend classes in the new Center for Health Studies beginning Aug. 27.

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