What do you want to know about East Hall redevelopment?

The community will have its second opportunity to offer input and learn about progress of the plans to turn Western Michigan University's East Hall into an alumni Center. The second of three such meetings will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9 in the Little Theater at the corner of Oakland Drive and Oliver Lane.

Renovation of East Hall is expected to begin in spring 2014. The Jan. 9 session is intended to show how the building will be configured tand the progress made toward a final design.

The mid-design session will feature professionals from TowerPinkster, the Kalamazoo architectural and engineering firm WMU chose earlier this year to lead the renovation, and Hopkins Burns Design Studio, an Ann Arbor firm that specializes in historic preservation.

Previously WMU indicated interior spaces will be designed for use as an alumni center and office space for alumni relations officials and feature large gathering spaces for alumni functions as well as such campus and community events as receptions and banquets.

The design elements will be focus on features that can showcase the significance of WMU to its community, state, and the nation.

The 34,000-square-foot core of East Hall was completed in 1905 and is considered the birthplace of WMU.

WMU has borrowed $15 million to transform the 34,000-square-foot core of the building, and has said any amount spent above that figure must come from other sources, such as private donors. The Western Michigan University Alumni Association board has committed $1 million to the project and board members have made personal commitments.

Details of the project are here.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Cheryl Roland, Western Michigan University

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What do you want to know about East Hall redevelopment?

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