Hovey Hall, located next to Old Union on the east side of the Quad, is about to undergo an interior renovation in addition to the exterior work already underway. The project is projected to be finished in December of 2013.

“The renovation of the first floor of Hovey has yet to commence,” Rick Kentzler, University architect, said. “Current projects at Hovey include the creation of a new entrance vestibule on the east side and the replacement of the plumbing system inside.”

“The entire first floor is being renovated to create spaces for Financial Aid,” he added.

The Financial Aid office is currently located in Fell Hall. The project leaders felt since Hovey Hall was home to the Office of Admissions, Financial Aid would fit best in the same building.

“Financial Aid and Admissions have a very symbiotic relationship, and it made programmatic sense to have the two units in the same building. [The building will look] really, really nice, as do all the new renovation projects,” Kentzler said.

Hovey Hall is also home to the president’s office, the vice president of student affairs, the graduate school and the provost’s office.

“We are planning on opening bids for the construction this month.  We expect the project to be complete by next December,” Kentzler said.

The Board of Trustees approved the project in October 2010. The first floor renovation will cost around $3 million.  

A meeting will be held next Monday to cast a prime bid on the project. A bid occurs once blueprints have been drawn. Various contractors offer their construction services for a price.

Each contractor seals that offer in a closed envelope and gives it, in this case, to the university. The sealed bid prevents contractors from looking at one another’s bids and changing them last minute. The university then looks at the bids and chooses a contractor to complete the project.

The pillar renovation on the east side of the building has been of some concern to students recently.

“I was walking past the construction. I’m a senior now and I’m pretty sure construction has been going on in that building since I was a freshman. I was literally just thinking, ‘When is that project going to be done?’ … It seems like they changed what they were going to do and they started doing something new,” Julie Mark, senior political science major, said.

The exterior column renovation began in the spring of 2012 and is scheduled to be completed fall of this year. The columns are being repaired in the Georgian style along with a new vestibule entrance. The old precast casing is being replaced by brick stucco.

“I think it looks better than just having those four columns … I feel like it was more intimidating and closed off … [The building] is the same color that the exterior of Watterson is now. “

“And also, I was just walking through DeGarmo yesterday and it has a lot of those pillars., so I think it fits with some of the other buildings on campus. It gives it an interesting look,” Mark said.