Summer construction set for Grainger Hall addition

This summer’s demolition of a former bank building will clear the way for construction of a five-story addition to Grainger Hall that will be home to graduate programs in the School of Business.

“We want to make Grainger Hall a much more student-friendly gathering space and learning environment,” said dean Michael Knetter. “The addition will allow us to provide common spaces crucial to unifying the School of Business community and meeting the needs of our alumni and corporate constituents. In so many ways, the new Grainger Hall will be a big step forward for the School of Business.”

The $40 million addition will feature a rotunda at Park Street and University Avenue, and a wing of the building extending along Park Street between University Avenue and Johnson Street will create a south-side courtyard facing Johnson Street between the existing building and the addition.

“It is still within the same architectural language of the other building, but it makes its own statement,” says Kurt Zimmerman, architect at the Milwaukee-based Zimmerman Design Group, which designed the addition. “Since there are many approaches to the campus, this is really a gateway and a lot of people’s first impression of campus, so we wanted a welcoming, engaging façade.”

The rotunda will feature an atrium and a waterfall wall and a first-floor plenary room that can accommodate about 300 people for a lecture and about 150 at tables. Plans call for the room to include a fireplace with a raised hearth/stage that will allow the room to be used for a number of purposes.

The addition will allow for dedicated space for each of the MBA career specializations and centralized student services for the full-time MBA program, as well as enhanced space for the Executive and Evening MBA programs. It also will allow the School of Business to centralize services for undergraduates and expand the Business Career Center.

MBA students will benefit from centralized resources, a new MBA Career Center, state-of-the-art classrooms, a computer lab and breakout rooms. Plans call for the addition to be ready when classes begin in fall 2007.

Some construction activities are expected to begin in mid-July at the south end of the site, and demolition of the former bank and office building is expected to take place sometime in August.

The project also is being designed with the environment in mind. The design incorporates many sustainable building concepts, such as daylighting, more aggressive energy-saving technology and close attention paid to use of materials with recycled content.

“We’re talking about the environment going hand-in-hand with form and function,” Zimmerman says.

The current Grainger Hall courtyard will be the temporary loading dock during the construction of the addition and will be closed during the project. The former Blue Chip Deli will serve as the staging area.

In addition, the Park Street exit from the Grainger Hall parking garage will permanently close on Wednesday, June 15.

Officials plan to remove and save the landmark “Bucky clock” on the old bank building at 905 University Ave. for possible use in the lobbies of other facilities, such as a university welcome center being planned as part of an office building under development on Park Street.

For years, Bucky’s arms have pointed to the correct time and served as a guidepost for campus visitors. Plans for the addition call for an exterior clock at the corner of Park Street and University Avenue, but preserving the Bucky clock definitely is a priority.

“It’s something we want to keep as part of our campus heritage,” says Gary Brown, director of planning and landscape architecture. “It is truly one of the landmarks that people use to help orient themselves.”

The addition is possible thanks to a $20 million gift, one of the largest in the history of the university, from The Grainger Foundation, Lake Forest, Ill. In addition to that gift, the project will be financed by $10 million in other gift funds and $10 million in general-fund supported borrowing. n