Davis Hall, one of the largest teaching buildings on campus, has its future remodel hanging in the balance because of consolidation. Martha Rhine | The Crow’s Nest
By Dinorah Prevost
Plans to remodel Lowell E. Davis Memorial Hall’s second floor are on hold.
Blueprints were originally scheduled to be ready this fall. But Edward Lewis, USF St. Petersburg construction project manager, said they are coming next fall.
Lewis said consolidation is a factor in the delay.
Davis Hall houses the College of Arts and Sciences and is one of the largest teaching buildings on campus. And with administration unsure of whether USF St. Petersburg will retain its largest college in the merger, Lewis is awaiting designs for Davis.
“It’s hard for us to understand who’s going to occupy the space in the second floor,” Lewis said. “Design is easy, because it’s just a question of making lines to make rooms. But the information we haven’t got at the moment, that’s why it’s on hold. That’s the influence consolidation has.
“Is it going to be all classrooms? Is it going to be classrooms and offices? Are we going to have to put a lab of some form back in there? Then what size are the classrooms and all of that will come into the mix.”
While plans for Davis Hall have come to a halt, those for the campus’ third residence hall moved forward Nov. 8. The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees all of Florida’s public universities, approved the $33 million project.
The six-story building is smaller than the 10-story residence hall that was originally envisioned with a conference center on top.
It will be in the northwest corner of campus on Sixth Avenue South between Third and Fourth streets. Construction is expected to start in spring 2019.
Lewis anticipates picking up the Davis Hall project again when recommendations are made by the end of February.
Once construction starts, Davis’s second floor will be gutted, affecting the number of classrooms and offices available on campus. Lewis said construction will take six months.
“We’ve then got to figure out all those people going to be displaced, where we’re going to put them. So it’s quite a lot of a process. It’s not just ‘We know what we want, let’s get on with it tomorrow.’ It’s an ongoing process,” Lewis said.
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