Beecher Demolition Opens Space for New Enrollment Services Center From: University of Cincinnati Currents Date: March 3, 2000 By: Mary Bridget Reilly Phone: (513) 556-1824 Archive: Campus News Built at the beginning of the last century as UC's "Women's Building," Beecher Hall greets the new century by bowing out of the campus scene, making way for a new Center for Enrollment Services (CES) scheduled for completion in July 2002. "Beecher has outlived its life. It's more than reached its old age with an HVAC (heating and air conditioning) system alone that would need a complete overhaul. It was never meant for offices and would cost more to refurbish than to build a new, technology friendly home for the offices it has long housed," said Dale Magoteaux, CES project manager. Since a major renovation in the early 1960s, Beecher has housed a variety of offices, including admissions, financial aid, bursar and registrar. However, none of those offices quite fit within the building first constructed in 1916 to house a women's gymnasium, locker room, pool, classes, labs, infirmary and dining room. "The current Beecher has 59,000 square feet spread over six floors that were subdivided to create 14 elevations. It has not been an efficient building," added Ray Renner, director, Construction Management. And so, during the weeks of April 10 and April 17, Enrollment Services staff will move from Beecher into Edwards Center, and workmen will move in to reroute the campus electric and water utilities that currently pass through Beecher to the Administration Building, Teachers College and Dyer Hall. Then, Beecher demolition is set for July and August of 2000. Construction on the new CES will begin in October and is scheduled for completion in July 2002. Designed by Boston architects Andrea Leers and Jane Weinzapfel of Leers Weinzapfel Associates and by local architect Bob Gramann of GBBN Architects, the new CES will rise six floors and contain 100,000 square feet. It will ultimately house the Career Development Center, Student Services (registrar and bursar's offices), a visitor's center, Enrollment Services (admissions and financial aid) as well as administrative offices. The following are some of the pedestrian/vehicle pathway changes expected in connection with Beecher and other construction: Half of McMicken Circle (the north half) will no longer be available for parking from April 2000-July 2002. While parking will still be available on the south half of the circle, the north half will serve as two-way access for construction traffic. Parkers continuing to use the circle's south section will enter at the university's main gate and exit using the new two-lane roadway. Commons Court parking (between the Administration Building and McMicken) will be permanently discontinued as of April 2000. Parking just south of Tangeman University Center will be permanently discontinued as of April 2000. Parking along the service route that starts at Corbett Drive, snakes around the west side of Blegen Library and continues past the College-Conservatory of Music, will be suspended from April 2000 to July 2002. This road will be turned into a two-way access for service vehicles only. The north entrance of the College-Conservatory of Music garage will be closed during May and June of 2000. The west entrance to CCM will be maintained throughout construction. A project fence will be placed around Beecher from April 2000 to July 2002. This fence will encompass Commons Court to the west, Veterans Memorial Bridge to the north and will abut both TUC and Dyer Hall to the east and south. Veterans Memorial Bridge will be lost to construction, replaced by green space when construction is complete. Elevator installation work in Teachers College is slated for completion by the end of May, when two-way access through the Teachers College breezeway will be restored. A downloadable version of the construction map is available as well. Construction of the CES is part of UC's Master Plan, the historic effort to transform campus into an architecturally integrated whole with state-of-the-art teaching, research and service facilities. Cost of the Beecher demolition and CES construction is $32 million, with all of that funding coming from the state of Ohio.