June 22, 2006

Wieboldt renovation to begin

Smart classrooms, community space, new f'ront door' for SCS

Smart classrooms, community space for students and a new “front door” into the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) are among the plans for a multiphase renovation of Wieboldt Hall slated to begin this summer.

SCS Dean Thomas F. Gibbons said, “Our goal is to provide the highest quality part-time educational programs to adult learners in the Chicago area. The renovations reflect a continued commitment to face-to-face courses as well as to growing professional master’s degree and corporate training programs on our Chicago campus.”

The School of Continuing Studies occupies the north side of Wieboldt Hall, 339 E. Chicago Ave. The south side that fronts on Superior Street is occupied by the Kellogg School of Management.

The project will begin this summer with upgrades to the infrastructure — new heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems; new restrooms on the fifth floor; and the elimination of restrooms on stairwell landings.

The first-floor lobby will get a makeover, with a reception area, an online registration kiosk and new signage. 

Both the fourth and fifth floors will be gutted and reconfigured to make way for 18 classrooms wired as “smart” classrooms and a large classroom equipped with videoconference capability. The large fourth-floor room will seat 75, and the fifth-floor room will hold 62. The fourth floor will feature one computer/technology lab.

Most classrooms will have movable seating so faculty members can adapt them for different learning modalities. Multipurpose rooms will be provided on both floors, with laptop computers on carts that can be utilized in those rooms.

Both floors will have a student lounge and study area adjacent to the elevators.

The fourth and fifth floors are now occupied, and the Institute for Health Policy and Research has moved from the fourth floor to 676 N. St. Clair in the administrative offices of general internal medicine.

During the first phase of the renovation, expected to be completed at the end of August 2007, the seventh and eighth floors will be used as a temporary location for offices and classrooms. The eighth floor will house classes, with a public computer lab, in the evening and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute programs in the daytime. Those floors will be renovated in the second phase of the project.

The University plans to seek certification for the project from the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, part of the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED emphasizes strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Gibbons said the project continues the improvements made by SCS over the past several years, including updating and improving its undergraduate and graduate programs, strengthening the faculty and expanding student service resources and scholarship opportunities.

Wieboldt Hall opened in 1926 on Northwestern’s McKinlock Memorial Campus, built at a cost of $1 million, with $500,000 in funding from the Wieboldt Foundation. The eight-story Indiana limestone building is of Gothic architecture. Its floors and stairs were of Tennessee marble and walls were paneled in walnut.