Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

April 30, 2004

Planning proceeds on MU remodel

This building model shows a future south view of the Memorial Union with a 22,000-square foot addition. Construction could begin next February.

by Anne Krapfl
A two-year renovation project at the Memorial Union will modernize about a dozen meeting rooms, remove barriers to accessibility within the building, add two elevators, create an east access to the Sun Room and South Ballroom, and link every level of the building to the adjacent parking ramp. A two-story south addition to the facility will expand the University Book Store, add a south entrance to the building and create space for student-focused retail tenants.

At its April 21 meeting, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved a schematic design and $17 million budget for the project. If planning stays on schedule, construction could begin next February and be completed sometime spring semester 2007.

Memorial Union director Richard Reynolds said the work will be phased to minimize disruptions to daily operations in the Union, but noted it will look and feel like a construction zone at times.

A student fee of $30 each year, which began last fall, will repay bonds sold to cover most of this project. The University Book Store, a self-supporting auxiliary unit of the university, will pay for about $6 million of the project.

When construction is complete, the bookstore will save an estimated $300,000 annually in rent for off-campus inventory storage and transfer because all its retail and inventory space will be in the Memorial Union. The sales area of the store will be consolidated on one floor and include about 23,000 square feet, up considerably from the current 14,316 square feet on two levels.

Meeting rooms
According to the plans, the Pioneer, Gallery and Oak rooms, South Ballroom and nine smaller second-floor meeting rooms will receive new interior finishes and upgrades to the mechanical, electrical, communications and technical systems.

"These upgrades will allow the Memorial Union to provide better conferencing and meeting amenities for students, faculty and staff," Reynolds said.

The hotel desk will be moved from the current information desk to remodeled space at the east end of the main hallway. The information desk will be remodeled this summer. Once the renovation is complete, the information desk will evolve into a student information center, similar to the one on the ground floor of Beardshear.

Improvements to the Great Hall have been deferred in order to contain the cost of this project. However, Reynolds said operating and capital budgets will be used to make improvements in the hall.

Additions
The south addition to the Memorial Union will provide nearly 16,500 more net square feet for University Book Store use and create about 7,700 square feet for use by retail shops. It also will create a south entrance to the building. The first and second floors of the addition will be on the same levels as the basement (recreation center) and ground (food court) levels of the existing Memorial Union. The roof of the addition, which will be level with the Sun Room floor, will serve as an outdoor plaza for now. In future plans, a third floor to the addition would add two meeting rooms about the size of the Gallery and Pioneer Room.

A small, four-level addition on the east side of the Memorial Union will include an elevator and link the building with the parking ramp. It also will include a new entrance to the building and a north access point to the expanded University Book Store retail area on the ground level.