Walker Hall has closed since the building caught fire in the summer of 2012 causing scattered majors and classes across the campus, leaving them homeless and ill equipped.
But things are looking up. The construction on the building officially began on Nov. 18, 2013.
The Division of Academic Affairs is in the process of determining space assignments in Walker Hall to academic departments. The work that is ongoing costs $4,923,580.50 according to Jason Roubique, director of facilities.
“The building will include some new life safety features to protect building occupants from future fires and emergencies by providing state of the art alarm systems and fire protection systems,” Roubique said.
The projected date of completion is June 30, 2014.
Roubique said, “If everything stays on track we are planning on Walker Hall being open and occupied for the start of the Fall 2014 Semester.”
John Rodriguez, professor of communication, is excited for the digital media lab that will be available in Walker.
The facility will feature a recording studio complete with a green screen wall .
“It will be a professional studio so students can produce Hawk TV and other professional work such as short films,” Rodriguez said.
Within the recording area will be LED lighting rig. Also, plans for a whisper room, an area dedicated to voice-over work.
A conference room equipped with SMaRT boards and will be available to the department.
According to Rodriguez, there will also be a production room complete with 40 brand new Mac computers and overhead projectors.
“The rooms will be much easier to teach in and students will have easy access. The facilities will be a lot nicer for the students, everything will be close together and key cards will guarantee easy access on the weekends while remaining secure,” Rodriguez said.
“The students deserve this, and the facilities will finally match our equipment,” said Rodriguez. “Stubbs has been slated for renovation for a long time, and is the only building on campus to not be, so this is like our renovation.”
EJ Kimble, a junior history major, hopes that when construction is done the Write Place will return to Walker Hall.
“It would free up some much needed space in the library and make it a lot quieter,” said EJ Kimble, a junior history major. “After the fire, it seems like everything was just crammed into the library. ”
Roubique is pleased that the project is progressing well, is on schedule and within the project budget.
