Those expecting to move into the Schoonover Center for Communication at the Fall Semester deadline were told the move is still weeks away after “unforeseen complications” in the building’s foundation delayed the project’s first phase.
Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication was projected to begin moving into the new Schoonover Center before the first week of classes. Now, the deadline to move in could be as late as the third week in September, but even that date isn’t set in stone, said Scott Titsworth, dean of Scripps College of Communication.
The most recent projections had the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the School of Media Arts & Studies moved into the new building before the 2013-14 school year.
“The fact that it was delayed by a couple weeks and will go over the start of the Fall Semester is unfortunate, and I wish that wasn’t happening, but certainly we’ll find ways to adapt to that,” Titsworth said.
Contractors will finish installing railings and other hardware, electronic signs and furniture in the first few weeks of school.
“We were able to overcome (the foundation problems), but right now it has a lot to do with the contractor’s ability to apply labor to the project,” said Harry Wyatt, associate vice president for facilities.
Construction on Schoonover, formerly Baker University Center, began 18 months ago, and the first phase cost $22.5 million. The Schoonover Center’s timeline has already been set back because of a lack of funding.
To cover the renovation costs, OU received $2.4 million from Fiscal Year 2007-08 House Bill 496 and $2.5 million from received and estimated gifts. The remaining $17.6 million construction costs were part of OU’s 2012 debt issuances, said OU spokesperson Katie Quaranta in an email.
The second phase, which should be completed by the end of the next academic year, will move the School of Visual Communications, the School of Communication Studies and the J.W. McClure School of Information and Telecommunication Systems to Schoonover Center for an estimated $17.4 million, Wyatt said.
“We still have to remember that there’s a second phase of the project that is going to take another year to do,” Titsworth said.
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