OSU to seek consultants for construction projects with regents' go-ahead
Friday, January 27, 2006
The Oklahoma State University/A &M College Board of Regents today gave OSU officials the go-ahead to select design consultants for several projects scheduled to be built during the first five years of the Stillwater campus master plan, which will guide a historic period of growth.
OSU requested the board’s reaffirmation to begin selection procedures for consultant firms to assist in the programming, design and construction of a new architecture building, a new classroom building and a new annex for the Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. OSU will also initiate the selection of a firm to guide the renovation of its flagship building, Old Central.
The board previously approved OSU’s request to begin seeking consultants for the classroom building, hospital annex and Old Central projects during its July 2005 meeting and, in October last year, initiation of the consultant selection process for the architecture building.
OSU officials sought the reaffirmation Friday following modifications the board made to its policy on the selection of architects for campus projects. The changes required the university to submit additional, supplemental information on the projects as well as the screening criteria used to select qualified firms.
“The level of investment in our campus infrastructure over the next five years is unprecedented,” said OSU System CEO and President David J. Schmidly. “Our campus master plan will guide more than $700 million in construction projects and we are eager to start selecting the designers to turn our exciting projects into reality.”
The university will use a $14.8 million gift it received last month from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to renovate its existing architecture building and add 47,000 sq. ft. of space. Once completed, the Donald W. Reynolds Architecture Building will double accommodations for OSU’s internationally-renowned School of Architecture.
The first permanent building constructed on the Stillwater campus, Old Central will be renovated to house the university’s Honors College. Additions will include small group study areas, classrooms and office space.
The new classroom building will be constructed on the campus’s north side to create additional classrooms, computer labs and auditorium lecture halls. OSU and Northern Oklahoma College will pay for the project with capital improvement bonds and other funds.
The $3.6 million annex for the Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital will consist of a three-story building with approximately 12,600 sq. ft. for classrooms and faculty offices. Part of the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, the hospital is the state’s premier veterinary referral clinic. Its veterinarians, technicians and veterinary medical students learning there serve clients throughout Oklahoma and surrounding states.
On a separate infrastructure matter, the board also gave OSU approval to select a contractor to demolish the dairy building on the corner of Monroe St. and Farm Rd. Erected in 1927 as Building No. 17, it was constructed to provide additional space for the dairy husbandry department’s creamery and laboratory facilities.
The building currently houses the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture department and the Dairy Bar, an OSU Dining Services eatery. It will be razed to allow for the construction of a $70 million interdisciplinary science and technology building. However, demolition will not proceed until alternative space has been renovated for the relocation of the horticulture and landscape architecture program.