Jimenez Hall
Jiménez Hall and H.J. Patterson Hall will receive substantial maintenance updates this summer to improve the buildings’ ventilation and electrical systems, Facilities Management officials said.
“These are old, tired buildings,” said Jack Baker, operations and maintenance department director. “I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in the case of Patterson, it may be one of the worst buildings on campus.”
Once the spring 2014 semester ends, workers will begin renovating the halls to be completed for fall 2014. During the updates, summer classes and offices will be moved to other buildings in order to empty the facilities out, Baker said.
H.J. Patterson’s renovations will focus on the first wing of the building, which faces Stamp Student Union. These changes will be similar to work done last year on the third floor, when its electrical and ventilation systems were overhauled. In Jiménez, the north wing of the building will be renovated.
H.J. Patterson’s first wing has not received major work since its construction in 1937, according to Facilities Management’s 2010 “Restore the Core” building renovation report, part of an initiative to upgrade outdated university buildings. And Jiménez has received only a partial heating, ventilation and air conditioning renovation since 1962.
Facilities Management plans to add a new central cooling system to each building to replace the dated steel radiators and the room-based air conditioning units in Jiménez.
Baker said the new heating system will be much more reliable and less distracting than the current versions.
“You can’t teach very well over the loud units and these cooling units generally did not fit into a good teaching environment,” he said. “The change will also waste less energy.”
Junior Japanese major Saria Rudolph, who has had multiple classes in Jiménez, said she would welcome the change.
“In a couple of my Japanese classes, the people who sit near the back by the air conditioner usually have a lot of trouble hearing the teacher,” she said. “The teacher would either need to constantly repeat what she said or turn off the air, making the room really hot.”
The two buildings will also receive upgrades to their electrical systems to match the growing demand for technology in the building, Baker said.
Facilities Management plans to install more circuits and breakers to provide the power required for modern laboratories and classrooms.
“Language classes are very dependent on stable technology to use videos and Internet access as teaching tools,” said Mary Scullen, a French professor who teaches in Jiménez. “A reliable wired access can bring us into the world and also bring the world to the class.”
This round of renovations in Jiménez will cost the school $5 million and H.J. Patterson’s will cost $7 to 9 million, Baker said.
The updates will improve the longevity of the buildings greatly, he said.
Further updates to H.J. Patterson will take a couple of years to begin, but Jiménez renovations will continue in the south wing in summer 2015, Baker said.
Scullen said she hopes future work will continue to improve the Jiménez computer lab, classroom overhead projectors and new study rooms.
“I want the renovations to create a community in here,” she said. “I want rooms for faculty, students or TAs that support an area where you can come and talk.”
