Fondren Science slated for renovation

While physical science students are just now filling up Fondren Science Building with lab equipment and warm bodies, the office of Campus Planning is planning to gut it once classes are over.

The building, which houses the departments of chemistry, physics and geology, is slated to undergo a $9.3 million renovation that will increase the number of labs, refurbish existing lecture halls and improve safety in the building.

“This is definitely an ambitious project,” said Randy Phillips, associate dean for administration. “It’s the most extensive renovation done within Dedman College.”

Improvements to the safety of several fume hoods in chemistry labs made the changes necessary now, said Ben Roberts, the campus planning and plant operations manager for the project.

A fume hood is a partially enclosed workspace that allows hazardous gases and vapors created inside it to be ventilated to the outside before they can be inhaled. Extensive work will also be done on the heating and cooling systems in the building to properly work with the new hoods.

“Whenever you get involved with fume heads, that tends to be more extensive and more difficult to work around,” Phillips said.

In addition to the fume hoods, several improvements will be made to the lecture halls and teaching labs within the building including the construction of a new organic chemistry lab on the second floor. They will also upgrade the fire alarms, construct different kinds of research space and expand the machinery available to students and staff.

The renovation is the second phase of a process that was started in 1989.

“About 40 percent of the renovation was completed then,” Phillips said. “We’ve got 60 percent to do right now.”

Construction will begin at the end of the spring semester, according to the Office of Campus Planning. The building will be shut down with the exception of a few research labs to allow workers to begin work. The building is expected to be functional again in time for fall 2003 semester, however portions will be closed from time to time as the construction workers wrap up their work. Projected completion is spring 2004.

As of last fall, project managers were making plans to shift as many classes out of the building should heavy construction bleed over into the fall semester. The project could be thrown off if individual elements take longer than planned or if funding doesn’t come through for the rest of the project.

“Usually there’s more flexibility time wise, but when you’re working with teaching spaces and complicated mechanics, there’s really no comparison,” Roberts said. “We’ve got a number of fail-safes planned at various stages of the process if the project turns out to be too ambitious.”

Phillips has looked at offering more 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. classes throughout Dedman College to make more classroom space available during the day. However, many of the classes scheduled in Fondren Science have lab components that cannot be transferred to other buildings.

“We may go ahead and look at rearranging the schedule for the fall so we don’t have a catastrophe,” he said.

At this point both Phillips and Roberts are confident that the project will move according to schedule.

“We won’t have a situation that is unsafe or will prevent anyone from doing their job,” Phillips said.