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K-State News
Kansas State University
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1525 Mid-Campus Dr North
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Kansas State University makes significant infrastructure improvements as part of K-State 2025 plan

Friday, Aug. 1, 2014

       

 

MANHATTAN — Revitalizing Kansas State University's building infrastructure will continue to be a common theme during the 2014-2015 academic year.

"Building and maintaining quality facilities for students, faculty and staff are vital to K-State becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025," said Kansas State University President Kirk Schulz. "We are building new buildings and renovating old spaces to meet the continual needs of our students and provide K-State faculty with research facilities that are competitive with our benchmark intuitions."

The significant current and future projects include:

• Memorial Stadium — The renovation of the historic stadium is underway on the west side. The transfer of the Purple Masque Theater to the west side of the stadium will be complete after the start of the 2014-2015 academic year. The east side of the stadium is in the design process to create a new Welcome Center and construction will start in February 2015. The center will be one of the first in the country to provide a central location for students and families to connect with new student services, admissions, financial aid, housing and dining services, and career and employment services.

• Engineering Complex — The Engineering Complex expansion is in phase four of construction with an expected completion in fall 2015. The addition at the corner of College Heights Road and Denison Avenue will create more than 100,000 square feet of instructional, research and office space. A live Web camera is set up to view the progress at http://www.engg.ksu.edu/phaseiv/camera/.

• College of Business Administration new building — Site preparation has started and construction is expected to begin in August. When the college's new home is completed in July 2016 it will have 155,000 square feet of space, featuring tiered classrooms, a large showcase lecture hall, computer labs, a financial research lab and an executive conference room. The plans include dedicated space for entrepreneurship and sales education, as well as space for study, collaboration and networking throughout the building.

• Jon Wefald Hall — Construction on the university's newest residence hall will begin in November. Named in honor of the university's 12th president, Wefald Hall will have eight floors and 129,000 square feet of living space for more than 540 students. The hall will be part of the Kramer Complex on Claflin Road. Renovations to Kramer Dinning Hall, Marlatt Hall and Goodnow Hall also are planned.

Bill Snyder Family Stadium — Construction on the stadium's north end and Vanier Complex will begin in December as part of the university's third phase to update the stadium. The expansion will include an academic learning center; strength, conditioning, training and recovery area; locker rooms; a team theater and meeting rooms; an office complex for coaches; and improved north-end seating and fan amenities.

• Seaton Complex — Renovations and expansion will begin in July 2015. The two-phase, $75 million project will demolish, renovate, expand and preserve portions of the east wing of Seaton Hall and Seaton Court. The 194,000-square-foot addition to the complex will include interdisciplinary design labs, an outdoor teaching amphitheater, secure exhibit and gallery space, a 300-seat auditorium, and an atrium and collaborative spaces.

• K-State Student Union — The Kansas Board of Regents recently approved the $25 million Union renovation plan, which is funded by a $20 per semester student privilege fee increase. The board is in the process of selecting an architect, with construction to start in summer 2015. The final phase of the project will be completed by fall 2016. The expansion will create a more prominent southwest entrance, consolidation of administration offices, technological upgrades to meeting areas, renovation of the Union Ballroom, an upgraded recreation area and a 24-hour student lounge area. In addition, several micro restaurants will replace the current food court, and the Cat's Den and Computer Store will be expanded.

• Equine Performance Testing Facility — The Kansas Board of Regents recently approved the facility, which will be east of the College of Veterinary Medicine's Mosier Hall. Construction will start in June 2015 and will be complete by March 2016. The $2.8 million facility will include a soft-footing riding arena, an asphalt footing area and a 140-foot-long runway for lameness examinations; four holding stalls; a farrier services area; a radiographic imaging area; and a conference room for client services, student education and outreach activities.

• 150th anniversary plaza and time capsule — Construction on the limestone plaza east of Anderson Hall is nearly complete for the university's 150th time capsule, which will be buried until 2063, the university's 200th anniversary. The time capsule is a 3,000-pound vault filled with items donated by 50 units, colleges and groups across the university.

In addition, several repair and rehabilitation projects have been completed on the Manhattan campus. These projects include:

• Roof replacement and building maintenance of Ahearn Field House, Hale Library, the Natatorium, and Boyd, Putnam and Throckmorton halls.

• Heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems upgrades in Ackert and Cardwell halls, McCain Auditorium and the Natatorium.

• Renovation or remodeling classrooms in Ackert, Bluemont, Burt, Cardwell, Coles, Dickens, King, Leasure, Mosier, Nichols, Seaton, Ward, Waters and Willard halls.

Campus infrastructure and utility maintenance projects include the Ackert Hall/Denison Avenue sidewalk step replacement; Ackert Hall animal rooms backup boiler and generator switch gear replacement; Kedzie Hall west stair replacement; life safety improvements in Hale Library and the Veterinary Medicine Complex; stone replacement on Nichols Hall, Bluemont Hall and West Stadium; repair and resurfacing of A11 and A12 parking lots; and the next phase of switching the main campus buildings to an updated, safer and more reliable 12.5 kilovolt electrical loop distribution system — the reason for the majority of the trenching near Anderson Hall.

Various off-campus Agricultural Extension Services and Research program projects have been completed at the South Central Kansas Experiment field station, Agronomy Farm, Rocky Ford research farm water pump in Manhattan, Western Kansas Agriculture Research Center, Southeast Agriculture Research Center and the Kansas Forest Service. Upgrades to the K-State Salina Student Life Center and the Library Annex book storage facility near the Manhattan airport are active projects.

Source

Ryan Swanson
785-532-1373
rswanson@k-state.edu

Website

Current construction projects

Written by

Stephanie Jacques
785-532-3452
sjacques@k-state.edu

Notable quote

"Building and maintaining quality facilities for students, faculty and staff are vital to K-State becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025."

– Kansas State University President Kirk Schulz