Genevieve Hay | Student Life

Construction takes place at the southwest corner of the Millbrook parking garage near Village East and the Charles F. Knight Center.

Beginning this summer, two new buildings will be constructed in the hall’s current location to host John M. Olin School of Business’s graduate program.

The southwest corner of the parking garage used by students, faculty, staff and visitors was removed to open up an area for construction staging, where the construction equipment will be stored and the process will be coordinated.

The project resulted in the reduction of about 100 of the garage’s 1,111 spaces, Steven Hoffner, associate vice chancellor for operations, said.

The removed parking spaces will become a pedestrian plaza after the construction of the new buildings is complete.

Nicholas Stoff, director of Parking and Transportation Services does not believe the reduction in parking spaces will significantly affect those who use the garage.

“There will continue to be available parking in the Millbrook Garage. It may not be as convenient as it once was, but there should still be sufficient parking,” he said. “My department will monitor the space availability in the garage on a daily basis.”

Stoff said his department does have some long-term plans for providing more spaces, but those will not benefit students for at least a year.

“We are in the very early stages of exploring a new underground garage at the east of campus,” Stoff said. “However, this work is not expected to begin until the spring of 2013 or later. There is still a lot of discussion and planning that needs to occur.”

Some students say they were not given sufficient warning about the garage construction.

Senior Johanna Kaufman said she only heard about the construction through the Record.

“They didn’t really tell us…it would have been nice to have an email,” Kaufman said.

“Because I live in Village East, it is very annoying. During the day it is impossible to get a spot.”

The demolition of Eliot Hall is scheduled to begin this June, followed by the construction of the two new buildings. Much of the project is being funded by two donations from October 2010, totaling $25 million.

“We have raised naming gifts for two new buildings—Joanne and Charles Knight have pledged $15 million for Knight Hall, Carol and George Bauer have pledged $10 million for Bauer Hall,” Associate Dean for Finance and Administration Brian Bannister said. “These gifts have enabled us to start the design of the new buildings.”

The project is estimated to cost about $90 million.

“The fundraising effort will be supported by the continued development of the design of our new facilities. We are on schedule to complete design development by the end of March,” Bannister said. “We anticipate occupying the new facilities during the winter break of December 2013.”

The buildings will house several classrooms, about 75 faculty offices and numerous lounge-style spaces for students to interact with each other.

Construction on the buildings is scheduled to begin in June, after construction on McMillan Hall is finished, and end in December 2013—pending sufficient fund raising efforts.

While plans for the project are still in development, two donations totaling $25 million are leading the ongoing effort to fund the construction. The project is slated to cost about $90 million, according to the University Record.

The gifts, donated in October 2010 and announced last month, were $15 million from Charles and Joanne Knight and $10 million from George and Carol Bauer.

The donations allowed the University to begin drafting plans—though the process is not yet complete and is contingent on a successful campaign by Alumni & Development Programs.

“Fundraising is off to a good start but will intensify over the next month or so as architectural plans are completed,” Executive Vice Chancellor David Blasingame said. “So far, this year is off to a good start, but it is too early to project how we will end up.”

Charles Knight, who spent 27 years as CEO of Emerson, a global technology company, was a member of the University’s board of trustees from 1977 to 1990. Both he and his wife have received honorary doctorate degrees from the University and the Charles F. Knight Center was named after him in 2001.

George Bauer attended Washington University as both an undergraduate and graduate student before working for IBM for 31 years and founding an investment-banking firm. He currently serves on the board of trustees.

Although the actual construction is not to begin until next summer, the Department of Facilities Planning & Management is beginning work on the project at the end of the month.

In an email to all business school students, Director of Facilities and Operations Tim Rogan announced that the school will be demolishing part of the Throop Garage across from the Knight Center starting Dec. 22 to make room for Tarlton Construction’s field trailer. The garage will be closed periodically from then through Jan. 13.

Students voiced in favor of Facilities’ choice in timing.

“I think it’s good that they’re getting the work done over break so most of the students won’t need to access the garage,” senior Christina Correa said. “I don’t think it should be a big inconvenience for many students, [and] I’m personally not affected by the construction.”

Dean of the John M. Olin School of Business Mahendra Gupta could not be reached for comment, but he described the importance of the school’s expansion in a press release on Nov. 18.

“In our planning, we realized that significant new resources and spaces were needed if we were going to continue our trajectory as a business education leader and accommodate more top-flight faculty, more talented students, more programs for business-involved applied learning and more interdisciplinary collaborations,” the release said. “With these transformative gifts, the Knights and the Bauers are making an investment in Olin’s future and, more importantly, in the futures of innumerable students, teachers, researchers and business leaders.”

Courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis Facilities Planning & Management

Above: the existing fence around Millbrook Apartments. Below: a rendering of a plan for a new fence to include a gate, accesible only with a University ID.Renderings of the proposed North Side gate, facing south at Millbrook 1 and 4.

The project will involve placing three fences along the Village East and Millbrook dormitories, which will be connected to fences already in place on the northern border of campus.

The Department of Facilities Planning and Management plans to place four gates along the fences to maintain student access to the North Side. The fences will block access to residential areas on the north side of campus to people without key card access.

The construction will take place in two parts. In the first phase, the department of facilities will install the fences. This phase of construction will take place in early January.

In the second phase, the University will program the locks on the gates to only let in people with key-card access. This phase will likely take place over the summer.

WUPD Chief of Police Don Strom said there are several reasons the University is undertaking the construction project—principally, to enhance security.

“We’re right there at a major thoroughfare with access to our residential areas; we’ve done our best to enhance security [and] restrict access to those who live in those areas [but] there have been a few episodes of people who have wandered into the Millbrook apartments area,” he said. “It is important to direct people into open areas.”

He said the fences will help prevent future incidents from occurring.

“I believe it will enhance security for that area,” Strom said. “[Restricting] access to our residential areas is an important part of the safety model for our campus.”

He added that the fences will also deter students from crossing Forest Park Parkway in the middle of the street.

“There have been some real concerns historically with the foot traffic that is crossing Forest Park Parkway in that area; part of the concern is how could the fencing direct people towards the intersection and a more safe crossing,” Strom said. “It was particularly dangerous and we’re lucky somebody wasn’t hurt.”

Project manager Brian Newman said that aesthetics are a third reason for constructing the fences. With the new construction, the gates surrounding the Northern edge of campus will be uniform in appearance.

“This is the first part of our campus [people] see when they come in from the airport. We want to present an attractive face to visitors, and this is an easy way we can do that,” Newman said.

Grace Fung | Student Life

The Underpass connecting main campus to the South 40. A recent report published by the Federal Highway Administration rated the bridge as structurally deficient.

The iconic South 40 underpass is structurally unstable, according to a recent report released by the Federal Highway Administration.

A structurally deficient bridge is not necessarily at high risk of collapsing, but does require consistent monitoring and inspections at least once a year.

The Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory Database says that the bridge “meets minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as is.” While its substructure (base supports) and deck are both in good condition, its superstructure (the section between the supports and the roadway) is not up to current standards, receiving a rating of four out of 10.

The Department of Facilities and Planning is not concerned about the state of the bridge, which it hopes to replace next summer, Project Manager Sarah Stanton said.

“We’re not going to put people in danger when they’re walking from the South 40 to the main campus,” she said. “It is not in any way dangerous, to my knowledge.”

She noted that the need for improvements is not a surprise.

“That bridge was identified as one that had reached toward the end of its lifespan, which happens; it’s sort of the wear and tear of bridges,” Stanton said. “It’s consistent with what we’ve been planning for.”

The underpass was built in 1962, and Facilities added additional supports beneath the roadway in the summer of 2008. Last semester, they began soliciting opinions from students about the current condition of the underpass in order to better prepare for a replacement.

“A four isn’t critical; we have things at the three and they’re not closed—but a three means you need to do work,” said Mark Croarkin, bridge maintenance engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation. “You can be deficient…but [still] function fine.”

One source of structural deficiency can involve structures that are structurally obsolete—or do not meet the most up-to-date standards. For example, current standards would require that the underpass have guardrails.

Croarkin said he is responsible for inspecting the bridge before Christmas to ensure it is still adequate. The bridge was last inspected in November 2009, according to Transportation for America, a coalition of public and private entities that advocates for an improved national transportation system.

The bridge currently has a sufficiency rating of 39.7 out of 100. Croarkin said that any bridge rated below 50 is entitled to federal funding toward construction of a full replacement.

Students did not voice particular unease with the underpass’ present condition, other than annoyance with the fact that it leaks.

“I don’t really feel unsafe,” freshman Linn Wang said. “I think [they should] fix the problem with leaking water, but I feel generally it’s pretty good.”

“I hope it doesn’t collapse and I don’t like the water drip,” freshman Jon Luskin said.

Sophomore Nicole Applebaum thought that Facilities could definitely improve the current structure by eliminating the leakage problem and reworking the walkway to make the turn safer for bicyclists. But she stressed her hope that the new underpass maintain the feel of the current structure, and for improvements not be taken to extremes.

“If they want to improve the structural quality of it so that they can prevent accidents from occurring in the future, they should go ahead and do it,” Applebaum said. “[But] they shouldn’t change it in a way that would change the feeling of the South 40 or of campus…modernizing and making it cool won’t necessarily make it better.”

Stanton said that the planning process, which involves both the Missouri Department of Transportation and the City of Clayton, is taking many of these student concerns into account.

“I know a lot of people have expressed concerns with the drainage, line of sight, circulation…so all those things we’re trying to incorporate into the design,” she said. “Being able to paint the wall spaces is going to be maintained.”

The construction is slated for this summer to minimize conflicts with campus life.

• 150 classroom seats
• 17 laboratories
• 83,849 square feet
• More than 90 percent of construction waste diverted from landfill
• Water use reduced by 30 percent by high efficiency plumbing fixtures.
• More than 50 percent of wood products from sustainably managed forests

Compiled from a dedication handout

Hundreds of members of the Washington University community gathered on Friday afternoon for the dedication of Green Hall.

Green Hall, the third building in the University’s new engineering complex, first opened this fall.

Final construction on the exterior of the building was completed just over two weeks ago due to a mason’s strike over the summer.

“Washington University has one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. Green Hall is a wonderful new addition to that Danforth Campus,” said Stephen Brauer, chair of University’s board of trustees.

Genevieve Hay | Student Life

Dean Ralph S. Quatrano speaks at the dedication of Green Hall.

“I am confident that this building will help us become leaders in those areas of science and technology defined by leading faculty, by those who are with us today and by those we wish to recruit in the future,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said.

According to Ralph S. Quatrano, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science, the new facility will foster collaborations between the different engineering and science disciplines.

“Engineers and scientists are coming together to collaborate and exchange information like never before. Methods from one discipline are becoming part of enabling other disciplines…Green Hall is making that integration of disciplines a reality at Washington University,” Quatrano said.

The new building has room for 17 labs and 150 classroom seats. It was designed to be certified LEED Gold.

“We’re all here to celebrate a great building, but it’s what is done in that building that will truly make a difference,” Wrighton said.

The building is named for the late Preston M. Green, a graduate of the University’s engineering school and former president of Southwest Steel. The Preston M. Green Charitable Foundation donated $5 million to the University towards the construction of the new building.

Sylvia Wang

A pool of water surrounds the bike nodes outside Olin Library the evening of September 3 after afternoon storms.

The node south of Olin Library was just one of numerous areas across the Danforth Campus affected by the weather. But the fact that the issues have come only weeks after the end of construction has left members of the University community unsure as to whether or not they are comfortable leaving their bikes in the nodes.

The nodes were installed earlier this year as places for students to park their bikes. They are the first of many to appear across campus under the University’s new bike plan.

The drainage problem was caused by about an inch of rain falling in around 15 minutes. Although the moderate node flood didn’t cause any lasting damage, some students worry that the rain could cause damage to their bikes.

“I would not leave my bikes in the nodes, because when bike parts get wet they tend to rust. If you don’t keep the chain or derailers lubricated they may not work properly or last as long,” said freshman Will Dewispelaere, a member of the University cycling team.

While other students also noted unease over the drainage issue, many said that they still plan to use the nodes.

“The rain has potential to ruin my bike regardless of where I park it so it would be worth the risk,” freshman Sam Glinsmann said.

Some students said that the parking options are still better than in previous years.

“Last year there weren’t enough racks, so I’m happy with the change. Even if there’s a risk that the racks may flood, people will probably still park their bikes outside Olin,” sophomore Becky Greenberg said.

Freshman Amy Brummer says that she will continue to park in the nodes but will keep an eye on weather forecasts.

“I would still park my bike there unless I knew it was going to rain. I think that it is a convenient place to park it, so I would not sacrifice moving it for convenience. However, if I knew it was going to rain it may change my mind,” she said.

According to Sarah Stanton, assistant project manager for Facilities Planning & Management, the nodes will be able to handle more extreme weather as fall and winter approach. They are all made of permeable pavers designed to absorb and drain water.

Stanton said that removing snow from the nodes should not be a problem, because it should drain similarly to rain.

However, she is open to reevaluating the situation if the need arises.

“We’re at a point now where we are at the first stage of implementation, and we will see what works and then adapt to it,” Stanton said.

Dining Services is looking to renovate the Village Dining area for several reasons. According to Dining Services Manager Paul Schimmele, plans for Village dining renovations began when Dining Services decided it wanted to install a dishwasher in the cafeteria.

Dining Services began to investigate student opinion on the facility, and realized that student concerns required more renovation than just creating space for a dishwasher.

Based on student opinions, Dining Services is going to attempt to make the grill and stir fry stations larger, to allow for quicker service.

The renovation will also include work on the actual dining area to make it more communal.

According to Schimmele, the layout of the dining room in the Village is not conducive to community building.

Although Dining Services told Student Life last year that it hoped to complete a portion of the work over the summer, Schimmele said that the plans had not progressed far enough to commence the construction.

He said that it would not make sense for the University to start construction before the plans were completely fleshed out.

“It was a smart move for the University to take a step back to really review the big picture of the project…to build a program that will work for five to 10 years down the road,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, Bon Appetit Resident District Manager.

The University ran into an issue, which was that there is no room in the facility to install a dishwasher.

“We want to be more sustainable, that’s where it began, but we have to work within the confines of the footprint we have,” said Schimmele. According to Schimmele, a dishwasher would make the facility more sustainable, because it would cut down on the use of disposable containers.

The University is planning on holding off on the construction plans until the summer to avoid inconveniencing patrons of the facility.

“I think it’s better to do the construction over the summer,” senior Brittany Simone said. “I don’t think it’s terrible; I think it could use some work, but it’s not urgent and I don’t think it’s worth disrupting everyone’s living schedules over it.

Still, some students think the changes are unnecessary.

“I think that the Village has a lot of great elements that other dining facilities on campus don’t offer. All people do at Wash. U. is complain; we have to be happy with what we have,” junior Maanasa Bandla said.

Umrath Hall
Umrath Hall, which is located adjacent to the Mallinckrodt Center, usually houses the Campus Y, the undergraduate deans, and the Undergraduate Research Office. It will be under renovation for most of the 2011-2012 school year.
According to Art Ackermann, associate vice chancellor for Facilities Planning & Management, Umrath was originally built as a dormitory. The university is renovating it to make the rooms more suitable to serve as office space and classrooms.
The renovations to Umrath have been especially complex because the roof had to be removed to reconstruct the building in a more stable way.
According to Ackermann, most of the heavy demolition was completed over the summer, so the project is mostly contained.
The offices usually housed in Umrath have been moved to other buildings on campus.
The renovations to Umrath Hall will not be finished until the end of the school year and move-in to the building is currently scheduled to take place after graduation.

Green Hall
Despite a delay on stonework that was caused by a mason’s strike this summer, Green Hall will be completed in time for its dedication on Sept. 23.
Although the exterior of the new building will not be complete for another two to three weeks, move-in started this week.
Green Hall, which is the newest addition to campus, is located on the northeast corner of campus. It will provide space for the Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering and house the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES).

Cupples II
The University completed construction on Cupples II this summer. The building now features a completely renovated interior and will house the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Undergraduate Research.
According to Ackermann, the original space, which was about 100 years old, was not well suited to classroom space.
“We tried to make the building as functional for modern education as possible, given the fact that it is a hundred-year-old building,” said Ackermann.
The third floor of Cupples II now has a wide hallway with natural light and strip lighting that will allow students to showcase posters or art.

Mallinckrodt
Due to renovations, the Mallinckrodt Center now has a new entrance. It also boasts new Subway and Bank of America locations. The newly renovated Campus bookstore is still located on the building’s ground floor, and three classrooms are now on the second floor.
“I’m particularly excited to see how people will receive Mallinckrodt because it’s pretty interesting, the changes there,” Ackermann said. “We’re anxious always to get some feedback on what we did.”
Ackermann says he hopes that students will take the time to check out the completed renovations.
Louderman 458 also received a complete makeover.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Each of the Clocktower’s four faces are stuck at a different time, and have been for almost a month. Parts are being shipped to Cincinnati to be fixed.

After remaining stationary at 1:55 for several weeks, each face of the South 40 Clocktower was frozen at a different time on Tuesday.

The inner mechanics of the Clocktower are currently being repaired. This is the first time the Clocktower has failed since it was erected in 2000.

Repairs on the Clocktower began almost a month ago when the clock did not transition to daylight saving time and Facilities tried to reset it manually. After operating for about a week, it stopped.

According to Bill Riley, director of maintenance operations, the entire inner movement of the clock is currently being shipped to Cincinnati to be rebuilt.

“We called in the manufacturer’s representative from the company that made [the clock] and actually installed it, and their report was that a certain part—the reset ‘pawl’—was worn. It would need to be replaced but because they are no longer manufacturing the internal movement with the same pieces, the whole movement of the clock had to be sent back to the factory in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the movement will have to be rebuilt,” Riley said.

Most students have not missed the absent mechanism.

“I have not noticed it,” freshman Ian Kinstlinger said. “I never think to glance at the Clocktower on my way to class—I always look at my cell phone for the time.”

While some students have observed the change, most did not find the lack of function particularly troubling.

“It hasn’t really been an issue because I don’t live on the 40…but it’s something I noticed,” junior Lexi Klein said. “I think that more people probably use it as a landmark than for time and don’t necessarily rely on it, but I think it’s something that should definitely be fixed—it’s there to tell time.”

Facilities customer service was not aware of the problem until Student Life inquired about the issue Tuesday afternoon.

“This is the first time I’ve heard the Clocktower is not functioning,” said Facilities Customer Service Representative Deborah Koonce.

“A thousand people could walk by it every day and not say it’s not working,” said Mary Ann Dill, service manager. for Facilities.

According to Riley, this is an inconvenient time of the school year for the Clocktower to break down.

“If we were going to have the clock not operational, it would not be the last month of classes and finals,” Riley said. “I suspect that a lot of students look at that leaving the South 40 to see if they’ll be late to class.”

Although students were able to work out until 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday from fall break until spring break, the AC has closed at 9 p.m. since spring break.

According to Andrew Koch, director of facilities, the schedule was adjusted to accommodate University-wide budget cuts with minimal impact on students.

“As with other departments at Washington University, the athletic department had to respond to a budget reduction entering the 2010-2011 academic year,” Koch wrote in an email to Student Life. “Facility and programming hours were reduced along with other building services.”

Because the athletic department’s operating budget will remain the same for the coming year, the new, shortened schedule is expected to carry over.

According to senior Nick Hartmann, who works at the front desk at the AC, this change should affect few students.

“It doesn’t seem like there are that many people in the building anyway at that hour,” Hartmann said.

Although few students are affected by the shortened hours, many think that the Athletic Complex now closes too early.

Sophomore Kate Klein uses the AC facilities for her tennis team practices. She says the modifications will affect Village residents.

“I think for students who live on the North Side, it would affect them. I know that on the 40 there are a lot of people who work out between 9 and 11, so I assume it would be the same on the North Side,” Klein said.

Not all students think the modifications will have a major effect on their peers’ schedules.

Freshman Brendan Daly said that students should be able to work around the modified hours.

“I don’t think it’s too hard to work around the new schedule. I use the facilities in the morning,” Daly said.

The Athletic Center also closed at 9 p.m. prior to fall break.

With additional reporting by Allyson Scher.