Architectural firm chosen to design new academic complex

By: Johnathan Skidmore
Copy Layout Editor

Monmouth College has recently played host to three individual architectural design firms in order to choose the best design for the proposed academic building. Each architectural firm presented its version of the project, vying for the chance to construct its version of the new complex. As it currently stands, this complex will house the science, mathematics and business departments upon completion.

At the end of the architectural presentations, Monmouth College had found its architects in the form of the Burt Hill architectural design firm. The Burt Hill firm is internationally known, running out of seven different United States offices and has received many awards for their designs, many of which are for innovative and efficient designs. In the past five years, Burt Hill has designed academic complexes and buildings totaling more than $1 billion worth, specializing in laboratory design.

At the head of this prestigious firm is Michael Reagan, who has 25 years of experience in academic architectural design under his belt. Reagan and his associate, Sean Thompson, visited Monmouth College campus to gather input for the complex, talking to faculty as well as students. Reagan’s most recent projects in clude the Leighty-Tabor Science Center at Millikin University.

The current science building, Haldeman-Thiessen, was built in 1971 and is in dire need of an update. The entire building, from its comparatively staggering four-story construction to its outdated laboratories and ventilation, will be completely revamped in a separate project, possibly being turned into the new student center.

The new academic complex will be a 140,000 square-foot building constructed with the environment, economics and interdepartmental communication in mind. Built with a larger footprint than Haldeman-Thiessen, the new academic complex will allow more departmental offices and classrooms on the same floor, creating a community of students and professors working closely together, thereby creating interdepartmental communication. The complex will also have what the architects are referring to as a “green” construction, meaning that the building will be heated, cooled and ventilated in the most effective manner available.

The estimated cost of the building will be more than $40 million dollars.

So far, the project has already received one major donor.

The Edward Arthur Mellinger Educational Foundation, the same organization responsible for funding the conversion of the old Alpha Tau Omega fraternity complex to create the building currently known as the Mellinger Teaching and Learning Center, has already pledged a $1 million donation toward the project. This same foundation also donated a $1 million gift to help fund the Dahl Chapel and Auditorium renovation in 2002.

According to Mauri Ditzler, president of Monmouth College, the project will begin in approximately two years, as soon as the concept drawings and engineering schematics are completed. The actual construction will take approximately two years after the preliminary planning is complete.