Regents to hear building plans

At their meeting tomorrow afternoon, the University Board of Regents will receive a full report on future renovations to six Central Campus buildings.

As part of the Central Campus Renovation Phase II project, the University plans to renovate the LS&A, Frieze and Perry buildings and Mason, Haven and West halls.

"We've been looking at these building's infrastructure needs and focusing in on their academic uses," said Hank Baier, associate vice president for facilities and operations.

Specific plans for the projects will not be revealed until tomorrow. Plans to move University President Lee Bollinger's offices from the Fleming Administration Building will not be included in Thursday's report.

When Bollinger assumed the University presidency in 1997, he said he wanted to move his office to a more accessible section of campus.

At the July regents' meeting, the eight member board approved an administration recommendation to commission SHG Incorporated to develop renovation designs for the LS&A Building.

The state will provide $16.5 million for the $25 million renovation project.

When asked by Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills) in July, University Chief Financial Officer Robert Kasdin said LS&A Building renovations would not include a re-bricking of the building exterior.

Deitch said he and many others in the University community would like to see the salmon-colored bricks make way for a more traditional color.

The LS&A Building was built in 1948 with the orange bricks due to a shortage red brick, following World War II.

Baier said one of the goals of the upcoming renovations is to ensure Central Campus facilities maximize their academic needs, making sure the buildings meets campus master planning initiatives.

Earlier this year, the regents were presented multiple campus planning and building project presentations. In May, Philadelphia architects Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi presented their firm's initial plans for the Life Science Institute, a multi-building complex to be located along Washtenaw Avenue across from Palmer Field.

Venturi and Scott Brown are two of the architects in charge of the University's master plan initiative.

The initiative aims to unite the different areas of the Ann Arbor campus through comprehensive planning.

When the architects presented the plans for the LSI, they showed the regents how the complex will create the first physical link between Central and Medical campuses.

Other building projects on the board's agenda include a vote for a $1.8 million renovation of Burton Memorial Tower, built in 1936 and the approval of architects for the renovation of the Student Publications Building, constructed in 1932.

Baier said since both projects are "historically significant," the architects must be experienced in preservation.

09-15-99