Miller Hall will be renovated during the summer of 2009 and will be ready for new students when they arrive on campus in August. This building and Calvert Hall are the two oldest buildings on campus that have not undergone recent renovations. While popular buildings for students because of their location and prominent setting in the first year student "quad," the structures are in need of updating.Calvert Hall is tentatively slated to be re-done in the summer of 2010. Miller received the nod this year because it is a smaller building and the project will give the contractors a chance to deal with any unforeseen issues that are typical in a renovation. Because the 15-week renovation schedule is extremely tight, tackling the smaller building first makes sense. When Calvert is also done in a similarly tight window the construction crews will have a sense of what they are dealing with having just done Miller the previous year. Herndon and Beze Halls underwent a similar two-year renovation plan in 2005 and 2006.
The renovation will be extensive. The building will be gutted, leaving only the foundation, floors, roof, HVAC units, and stairwell. Witnesses will actually be able to see through the building -- as all of the north and south walls will be removed and replaced. The south facing walls will no longer have windows, but rather solid walls. The north facing walls (above) will be renovated to feature private balconies ala Winn and Witt. When originally constructed, Miller had no air conditioning. The double-sided window construction allowed for cross-ventilation. This is no longer needed since the building now has heating and cooling.
Tentatively the building will have movable room furniture, additional outlets, walk-in closets, a fire sprinkler system, granite counter tops, stall doors (currently there are none in Calvert and Miller), a central laundry room, small study spaces, and an elevator. The LEEDS certified project will be a non-smoking building and won't feature the ceiling fans installed in the recent Thomas and Lightner renovations, because of the low ceilings. The first floor will have ceramic tile as an experiment to consider in future renovations while the second and third floors will be carpeted with carpet tiles.
Ideally, the Calvert project will be funded for the following year.
4 comments:
Seriously -- Calvert isn't on the list for this summer, too? Miller can't possibly be in worse shape than Calvert. Or, scary thought, maybe it can be!
The renovation will cost a few million as is and updating both is simply not do-able. I noticed your comment popped up before the text of the post was included, so hopefully the explanation makes sense now that you can see it. Thanks for the quick response NM. Incidentally, the buildings are in about the same shape currently.
While understanding why 2 buildings cannot be renovated at the same time due to length of time necessary, I pity any incoming 1st year being put in Calvert. The very least that should happen in Calvert during the coming summer is a thorough cleaning -- carpet included. I can't begin to tell you how dirty, damp and smelly my daughter's dorm was and it took a long time for to find a remedy.
Ceramic tile on all floors should be the norm and I applaud the university for choosing to try it on the first floor of Miller. It's much easier to keep clean, without moisture and mold issues.
ah Miller...what memories!
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