I am pleased
to tell you about some important properties projects getting
underway
this year.
Hoskins
Center
Construction
will begin soon on improvements to the Hoskins Center HVAC
system. This
work will impact all parts of the campus over the next few years,
and
Properties staff have been working with our consultants to ensure that
we keep
disruptions to a minimum. One challenge is that most work groups
will have to
relocate for at least some period of time while the work proceeds
in their
areas. The Call Center, as an example, has already relocated to the
Miller’s
building as we ramp up this project.
A
benefit of all these moves is that it gives us the chance to freshen up
the
interiors of our major buildings. Although some areas have had some
minor improvements,
most of the HOC buildings haven’t had new carpet,
paint or
furniture since the early 1990s. With these facilities empty for the
HVAC work,
we’ll be able to renovate them so that work groups return to
updated
workspaces. We spend more than a quarter of our life at work, so
it’s
important to have a space that’s comfortable and helps us do our jobs
effectively.
In addition,
we have decided to move forward with the construction of a
new building
on the campus. For many years, the E&O Building has been at
capacity,
but we have deferred building new facilities while we focused on
our Century
II projects. Now, given the rest of the work that we will already
be doing on
campus, we think the time has come to move ahead with the
construction
of a new Engineering Building.
This
building, shown in the preliminary rendering below, would be built
adjacent to
the current E&O Building, and will house all our Engineering staff
in one
place. The E&O will become the Operations building, housing the
non-engineering
functions currently in the building, as well as the Call Center,
which will
return to campus when the renovations are complete.
In addition
to providing needed workspaces, this project will also allow us
to minimize
the impact of the temporary moves for the HVAC project – when
the new
building is complete, engineering employees will move in without the
need for
temporary quarters elsewhere. At the end of the project we will have
modernized
our facilities for all our employees at HOC.
At this
point we are still in the design process, and we will involve the groups
impacted by
all of this work as we fi nalize our plans. But we wanted to be
sure you
were all aware of this new initiative as it gets underway. If all goes as
planned, we
will begin construction in 2018.
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