$1 million allocated to update buildings

As students begin to depart for the summer months, they will return to campus in the fall to subtle changes.

The department of administration and finance has allocated $1 million for renovations of some of the buildings on campus.

“The money comes from a renovation and renewal program that results from budgeting funds for that purpose,” James Sheehan, vice president and chief fiscal officer for administration and finance, said in an e-mail.

The buildings that will be worked on during the summer months will include Smith Hall, Towson Center, Van Bokkelen Hall, Stephens Hall and Enrollment Services.

According to acting provost Kate Denniston, every year the summer months are used to do renovations or make repairs to facilities that need work. The summer months are ideal because the population on campus is significantly lower. The process of choosing which buildings will get repairs come from a prioritized list compiled by the division of academic affairs, according to Sheehan.

“The scope of each project varies widely, ranging from new ceiling tiles and lights in Enrollment Services to constructing five new offices in Smith Hall with costs ranging from a low of $4,400 to a high of $315,000,” Sheehan said in an e-mail.

According to Denniston, there is a large list of departments asking for renovations.

“I still have other things that need to be done and we’ve picked the most critical and we will continue with other renovations year by year,” Denniston said.

According to Denniston, when asking for projects from each of the deans, they were asked to prioritize. The number one priorities were the ones that were looked into to try and get renovations. 

“We tried to use the million dollars to make renovations across as many of the colleges as possible,” Denniston said.

Renovations will continue as funds become available. As Denniston said, there are well over $1 million dollars in renovations that need to be attended to.