Ellis Hall, Seigfred Hall and Clippinger Laboratories are being renovated as a part of two campus plans to make improvements across campus.
The Comprehensive Master Plan and the Capital Improvement Plan are developed by Ohio University to keep in mind the university's budget and goals when planning for construction projects.
Ellis Hall is moving forward with construction and is expected to be finished next year. The cost of the project is expected to be about $9.1 million and will run from this October until next October.
Seigfred Hall is still in the study phase, Chad Mitchell, chief of staff and special assistant to the vice president for Finance and Administration, said. The project includes multiple phases. Once phase one is complete, they can move onto the planning phase, which is slated to begin next year. If the time frame needs to be extended before construction moves forward, it will be determined after the planning phases are complete.
Clippinger Laboratories is a $100 million project. The renovations are being approached in multiple phases to address both immediate and long-term needs, including the aging facility and basement space in the floodplain.
Other plans include the creation of a better pedestrian connection called "the Sweep." According to the Comprehensive Master Plan, it is envisioned as a "continuous green, multi-modal corridor with dedicated pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure," connecting South Green and central campus locations, like Baker Center.
Both the Comprehensive Master Plan and the Capital Improvement Plan have similar goals, but they are developed in different ways.
“The Comprehensive Master Plan is a visionary plan, also meant to be static in nature,” Mitchell said. “The intention is to keep that plan for a period of time. Ten years is about the right amount of time you would keep it.”
The Capital Improvement Plan is created with room to make changes, if necessary. Every year, the plan is updated. Every two years, a six-year plan is created. Katie Hensel, OU's budget director, said the operating budget includes the most recent Capital Improvement Plan to help organize the budget and time frames.
“From the perspective of the way the Capital Improvement Plan is developed, anything that is internally funded, we (have) captured through our operational budget,” Hensel said.
As projects in the plan begin to move forward, Hensel said the university takes into account the resources that may or may not be available from when they originally developed the plan. In those cases, the plans are tweaked to keep them on track.
