Several renovations in store for WVU buildings by 2020

West Virginia University's campus could see the addition of many new buildings over the next few years.

According to West Virginia state law, each year state institutions must create a Master Plan outlining facility projects to be completed on campus for the next 10 years.

Currently, there are several projects in the Master Plan being evaluated and developed for the future.

"We've got some plans that are still in preliminary phases," said Joe Fisher, associate vice president of WVU Facilities and Services. Discussions are taking place with WVU President James
P. Clements, he said.

Some of these projects include renovating White Hall into a physics department.

"We will have the design completed in December," said Narvel Weese, vice president for Administration & Finance.

The administration will be ready to put White Hall out for bid in January, Fisher said.

"It's an excellent time to be hitting the market in terms of bidding and construction projects, so we want to take advantage of that," Weese said.

The administration is also looking at a new $25 million project on the Evansdale Campus housing new recreational activities.

Clements announced at the State of the University Address the dedication of $1.5 million to recreational fields.

Hodges Hall, which will become vacant upon White Hall's completion, is to be completely gutted and renovated, a project costing about $30 million.

Administrators are also working on a five-story research building for the Downtown Campus. It would cost about $40 million to build.

The building would be home to faculty research and development, so when a grant is received, they can start work in a lab immediately.

"That's one of the real challenges we have today," Weese said. "If someone lands a significant grant, where do we put that researcher and that program?"

Students could possibly have a new health facility to go to when sick as well.

Administrators are looking to build the facility on the Evansdale Campus, and it would be open to all students and the general public.

"The intent here is to create a new student wellness program, student health program and a mental health facility on the campus," Weese said. "We're looking at a combination of what is now Urgent Care and Student Health."

In addition, WVU may see a Law School expansion of 45,000 square feet, costing $8 million, a new art museum and an addition to the Business and Economics building because two floors were left off the original design.

"If there's one building on campus that you could look at today and say that we probably need to replace, it's probably the (Agricultural Sciences) building," Weese said.

The University is looking to build a 155,000 square foot, $7 million building to use as a teaching lab.

"We think we can create a new research building that will take the academic research out of the (Agricultural Sciences) building as well as add some additional capacity to the (College of Engineering and Mineral Resources) to further research enterprise," Weese said.

Administrators aren't making any decisions about these projects, Weese said, but evaluating what can be done in the future.

"We're trying to reconfigure the campus to get more efficiency," Weese said.

In the past five years, there have been about 20 major projects completed on campus, totaling approximately $187 million, Fisher said.

Some of these projects included renovations to Oglebay Hall, Colson Hall, Brooks Hall and Lincoln Hall, and the construction of the Mountaineer Station and Day Care Centers, Fisher said.

There are often many challenges to building on campus, though.

"Right now, our biggest challenge is our growth in funded research," Fisher said.

Finding classroom space and traffic congestion are also problems.

"We're running out of office space," Fisher said. "As we hire new faculty, we're just about out of space to put them."