Anderson Hall finished

Anderson Hall is finally in the last stages of renovation, and the end of that project marks the beginning of many others in the near future of Maryville College.

In the last few weeks of the Anderson Hall Project, furniture is being moved in, technology being installed and plans are being made for faculty to move into their new offices. As planned, Anderson will open for spring semester classes on Jan. 28. The building is organized by division. The first floor houses the education division, the second floor humanities division and the third will hold the languages and literature division. The original Anderson Hall bell has been placed in the outdoor classroom.

MC President Tom Bogart speaks of the Anderson Hall project with the same enthusiasm as when the project first began, and is eager for students to finally be able to see and use the space: “If you like what we’ve done, the whole project has been worth it,” he says.

Looking forward, the next major renovation MC will see is already underway. Construction crews have begun demolition on the second and third floors of Pearsons Hall. These two floors will ultimately be used as another residence hall for primarily upper-classmen. Since the work is being done right above the newly renovated dining hall area, a few issues have been encountered but are being addressed. Much of the work is being done second shift so as not to disturb students during mealtimes and throughout the day. A good deal of work was done over the winter break while students were gone and the dining hall experienced some “odd weather conditions” in the words of Bogart. In two separate mishaps, demolition work led to water leaks into the first floor. Luckily, however, the issues have since been resolved and there is no doubt that the sprinklers work. There was a small amount of floor damage in the dining room that has also since been addressed. Bogart says that renovation is always exciting and interesting, and that such incidents are not unexpected.

In addition to the upper floor renovations, the kitchen of Pearsons will also be renovated, a project that will happen over the summer break. As with last summer during the dining hall renovation, Pearsons will be closed and food will be made available elsewhere for students living on campus. The final costs for the Pearsons project will be known within the next month. Pearsons renovations are to be completed in August 2015.

There are also plans underway to make changes to Sutton Science Center in the near future. The planning process will begin officially later this month; architects will begin working with faculty and staff to create goals for the renovation. A plan should be finalized for Sutton by late this spring.

“The nature of colleges is that you’re either moving forward or you’re moving backwards,” Bogart said. “So while there are these short term challenges and costs and difficulties, in the long run what this means for students is continuing to enforce the quality and value of a Maryville College education. It’s important for everyone that we continue to uphold that quality and improve that quality here as much as we can.”