Miami University has begun a $72 million renovation of an academic building on the Oxford, Ohio, campus.
The Journal-News reports that Bachelor Hall, which is 46 years old, will be upgraded to consolidate space, modernize classrooms, and create an environment for scholarly work and interdepartmental collaboration.
The two-year construction project means several university departments will have to relocate classes to other campus buildings.
Bachelor Hall houses the departments of English; History; Media, Journalism, and Film; and Philosophy, as well as the Humanities Center, the American Culture and English Program, and the Ohio Writing Project.
The project will modernize 20 classrooms and 141 offices; the hall’s square footage will increase from 112,000 to 120,418 square feet.
Harris Hall, Laws Hall, and Upham Hall will serve as temporary space until renovations are complete. The Department of Mathematics, previously in Bachelor, will now reside permanently in Upham.
New features coming to Bachelor Hall: a modern TV studio; the “Bachelor Great Room,” a 68-person multifunctional space for events and teaching; a dedicated event space for the Humanities Center and an atrium, a four-story space that will provide visual and physical connectivity to the core of the building.
University architect Robert Bell said one of the biggest changes will be enclosing the existing courtyard into the atrium space; a large skylight will bring natural light into the building.
