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Inside Iowa State, a newspaper for faculty and staff, is published by the Office of University Relations.

July 2, 2004

LeBaron auditorium demolition begins this month

by Anne Krapfl

Three auditorium classrooms have gone or soon will go "off line" this summer and won't be available for use until fall semester 2005.

Demolition of the 214-seat, tiered LeBaron auditorium, at the northwest corner of the building, is scheduled to begin the first week of July. The razing and new construction is a $5 million project. The new auditorium will seat 340 students in tiers of two rows each. In a special arrangement with the seat manufacturer, the seats in the front row only of a tier will turn 180 degrees so students can work with colleagues next to or behind them.

Rooms 3 and 5 in the Physics building will receive a nearly $1 million renovation that includes removing the lab preparation room between the two to capture the additional space for the two auditoriums. All construction bids reviewed on June 24 were above the budgeted amount. Project managers from Iowa State are negotiating with a bid company to reduce the scope of the project to stay within the budget.

In the meantime, 117 MacKay has been equipped temporarily with utilities -- including compressed air and water -- and a temporary "prep" room to accommodate physics and astronomy classes in the next year, according to Katie Baumgarn, room scheduling coordinator.

The auditoriums project is part of a $14.2 million, three-year effort to upgrade about 75 percent of the classrooms and auditoriums on campus. State appropriations approved by the 2002 Iowa Legislature are paying for the improvements, which should wrap up by fall 2005.

Summary

The auditoriums project is part of a $14.2 million, three-year effort to upgrade about 75 percent of the classrooms and auditoriums on campus. State appropriations approved by the 2002 Iowa Legislature are paying for the improvements, which should wrap up by fall 2005.