Ag Science Building may face changes in near future
One of the most unsafe buildings in Utah may soon be replaced, according to Utah State University officials.
As part of a series of university renovations, the Agricultural Science Building will be torn down and rebuilt where the Merrill Library now stands, said Ron Godfrey, vice president for business and finance at USU.
The estimated cost for the new building is between $45 and 50 million, Godfrey said.
“We haven’t submitted the plans yet for approval, but the funding will have to come from the state of Utah, through the Legislature,” Godfrey said. “Our request first has to go through the Board of Trustees and the Building Board before it is even submitted to the Legislature,” he said.
Paul Rasmussen, associate dean of agricultural science, said, “The time frame of the project really depends on the Legislature. We don’t have any planning money and we don’t have any way of knowing when the Legislature will approve [the project]. Whether it’s going to move up their list of priorities or down their list, we don’t know.”
Rasmussen said future plans depend on the decisions made by the Board of Trustees and the Building Board.
“When we find out where we rank and whether they’re going to give us planning money this year, we’ll have a better idea of what the future holds.”
According to Godfrey, the safety issues that surround the Agricultural Science Building directly correlated with the decision to rebuild.
“Safety and classroom enhancement are the most important issues contributing to the move,” Godfrey said. “There are also university space issues – there are so many research facilities, and not enough space to take care of all the faculty.”
Rasmussen said there are more safety hazards of the Agricultural Science Building that correlate with the age of the building.
“Buildings built in 1953 on college campuses are not necessarily buildings that meet today’s needs,” he said. “It’s important that we try to get to the 21st century.”
Rasmussen said, when the building was built, seismic issues were not taken into consideration, and the plate-glass hallways are a hazard to students and faculty. He also said there are issues with the electrical systems, as well as asbestos in the walls and on the floors.
“You just have to walk into some of the labs and classrooms, and you can probably figure out it’s not one of the safest places in the world to be,” Rasmussen said.
Although both Godfrey and Rasmussen said no architectural designs will be submitted until after funding is approved, the proposed building will have many improvements over the current facility.
“This is an agricultural university, and we can never lose focus of what our roots are,” Godfrey said. “Utah State Aggies are known world-wide, and they should have the type of building that will take us into the next century.”
Rasmussen said the building being proposed is 250,000 square feet. The building has the capacity to host business, computer science and other departments as well.
“We’ll have state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories with electronic teaching capacity that we don’t have in the current building,” Rasmussen said.
He also said the new building will meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, unlike the current building.
“We have one elevator right now, and students that have to use the elevator have to come in through the back,” said Rasmussen.
According to both Godfrey and Rasmussen, the project will benefit not only the students, but the university as a whole.
“Students and faculty all come out much, much better with this kind of a move,” Rasmussen said. “It’s timely – we need to do it while the Legislature is still predominantly rural. As the years go by, that’s going to change, and as that changes, there will be shifts in what they’re interested in doing for universities throughout the state of Utah,” he said.
Although details are uncertain, construction is anticipated to begin in 2006.
-amberem@cc.usu.edu