MC president Mauri Ditzler, left, thanks Mellinger Educational Foundation president Tom Johnson for the organization's commitment of $1 million to fund the initial plans for a new academic complex at the college. To Johnson's left are Mellinger Foundation board members Gary Willhardt, David Fleming (seated) and Mary Frances Miller, principal architect Michael Reagan and associate architect Sean Thompson.

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MONMOUTH, Ill. — Having completed its most ambitious construction project to date—the $22 million Huff Athletic Center—Monmouth College is poised to take on an even greater challenge: constructing a 140,000-square-foot academic complex that will be home to the sciences, mathematics and business.

“We envision a hybrid teaching and research facility that will break down the walls, both literal and figurative, which have traditionally hindered interdepartmental collaboration,” said President Mauri Ditzler. “Interaction among departments, we believe, must be central to the liberal arts experience of the future.”

While planning is still in the initial stages, Ditzler said the rapidly growing department of political economy and commerce (business/economics/accounting) will be a co-partner with biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, mathematics and computer science in the new complex. “Science and business is potentially a very interesting partnership,” explained Ditzler. “We think it could generate a lot of excitement among prospective donors.”

One donor has already stepped forward and agreed to fund the first phase of the project. The Edward Arthur Mellinger Educational Foundation, which previously helped underwrite the conversion of a former fraternity house into a teaching and learning center and provided a $1 million gift for the renovation of Dahl Chapel and Auditorium, has committed another $1 million to develop a concept and schematic design for the new complex.

According to Ditzler, it will take about a year to develop the concept drawings, another year to complete the engineering and schematics, and two years to do the actual construction. “Designing laboratories is a time-consuming business,” he explained. “That is why it is important that we begin the process as soon as possible. We are indebted to the Mellinger Foundation for its generous support in allowing us to get the ball rolling.”

Taking the building from concept to reality will be the award-winning international design firm of Burt Hill. With seven locations in the United States and one in Dubai, the company has designed more than $1 billion worth of facilities for colleges and universities in the past five years. Particularly known for its innovative and flexible laboratory designs, Burt Hill was selected from a field of three finalists, which gave presentations on campus in December.

Michael Reagan, principal for the firm, has more than 25 years of academic planning and design experience. His work is well known to President Ditzler, who has previously collaborated with him in designing science buildings, including a recent one for Millikin University, where Ditzler formerly served as academic dean. “One of Michael’s greatest strengths,” Ditzler said, “is that he puts the same energy and attention to detail into a building for a small liberal arts college as he does for a major research institution. He’s willing to work closely with the administration and faculty to achieve its specific goals within a realistic budget.”

Reagan and his associate Sean Thompson visited the campus Jan. 23 and 24 to meet with faculty and students and begin gathering input for the complex, which will encompass approximately 140,000 square feet and carry a price tag estimated at more than $40 million. “It was an invigorating experience,” Reagan said, “particularly talking to the students, who had a lot to say about the design of the facility, even though they will have graduated by the time it is completed.”

Ditzler observed that in discussing the project informally with alumni throughout the country, there has been a great deal of excitement over the concept of combining the sciences with business. “To the best of our knowledge, this building would be the first of its kind—no other college has ever built such a facility,” he said, adding, “It’s a partnership that lends itself to many interesting collaborative opportunities.”

Michael Connell, chair of the political economy and commerce committee, agrees. “Science will do the basic research and come up new ideas,” he said, “then business will find effective ways to implement those ideas and solve problems in the real world.”

One collaborative opportunity that Ditzler envisions is an increased emphasis on teaching the science and business of agriculture. “Monmouth is surrounded by some of the richest farmland in the nation and is strategically located close to the river, the railroad and other major sources of transportation,” he said. “Increasingly, the world is going to be looking to western Illinois as a source of its food and its fuel, and we hope to be a key part of that.”

The new academic complex will help address a number of needs of the growing college:

• The current science and math building, Haldeman-Thiessen, was completed in 1971, during an era when the physical and life sciences were more rigidly separated and most classes were taught as formal lectures. Methods of teaching and research have evolved significantly since then, and the introduction of personal computers into classrooms and labs has further altered the landscape of modern science and math facilities. Haldeman-Thiessen is an aging structure and its four-story design does not lend itself to interdepartmental collaboration.
   
• Monmouth’s popular business program is currently housed in the college’s original science building, McMichael Academic, built in 1909. With the recent addition of international business to the curriculum, the department is growing more rapidly than ever and is only second only to educational studies in the number of graduates it produces. In order to continue its growth, new facilities are urgently needed.
   
• Many of Monmouth’s peer institutions have built or are building new science facilities. In order to continue to attract the best students, Monmouth will need to follow suit as soon as possible.
   
• The addition of an academic complex will free up needed space in existing buildings for academic departments, faculty and staff offices, student organization needs and more.

Although the look, shape, dimensions and orientation of the new facility have yet to emerge from the architect’s drawing board, its location has been selected. The building will occupy a position of prominence on East Broadway, between North Sixth and North Seventh streets.

“With the beautiful main campus on one end of Broadway and the magnificent Huff Athletic Center located in between, the new building will be the crowning addition to Monmouth’s front yard,” Ditzler said.

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330