University of Missouri planning $23 million in renovations
The University of Missouri announced a new initiative to renovate several buildings on campus, including the historic Jesse Hall.
“Renew Mizzou” is a nearly $23 million project to improve Swallow Hall and Jesse Hall, and to decommission Pickard Hall. The project is pending approval from the UM Board of Curators.
If approved, construction on Swallow Hall would begin in June 2014 and cost $11.5 million. The renovation would increase usable academic space by 5,000 square feet.
Jesse Hall would also undergo construction starting in March 2014, when staff would move out of the building. The 15-month project would include a new sprinkler system, a new fire alarm system, a second elevator, and new heating/cooling systems.
The Jesse Hall project would cost nearly $10 million. During construction, all staff and employees would need to be relocated. MU says offices and staff would be temporarily located in several buildings, including Reynolds Alumni Center, Ellis Library, Hillel Center, Missouri Theatre and the former Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
Starting this fall, testing and construction would begin on Pickard Hall, where portions of the building still contain radiation from experiments in the 1900s. University officials will clear staff out of the building so that additional testing and work could occur.
