The demolition of Baker Hall and the remodel of Bartlett Hall have affected both students and faculty for the past four years. This project is slated to be finished in October of 2014. That’s almost three months early.

“The contract of the original schedule was to complete everything by December 2014—that would be all the work on Bartlett and the demolition and reconstruction in Baker,” said Morris Mikkelsen, associate vice president of Facilities Planning. “We are on target to complete it in the middle of October.”

Currently, construction has reached the final stages of the rebuilding—extending Campus Street to include a cul-de-sac as well as building the closest handicap and regular parking lots to campus.

The remodel and demolition of both buildings cost $21 million, which was approved by both the Board of Regents and the Iowa Legislature in 2010. Funds for the project were raised entirely through tax money, instead of using student service fee funds. 

Baker Hall was originally constructed in 1935 for $140,000 and opened in 1936 as a male-only dormitory, according to the July 1935 edition of the UNI Alumni magazine. 

By the time of its demolition in March 2014, the building had an immense amount of deferred maintenance, which refers to necessary maintenance that cannot be kept up because there is no money in the budget to do so. Demolishing the building was more economical than renovating it back to code at the estimated cost of $6.5 million.

There was some discussion of replacing Baker Hall with a new building. However, Facilities Planning opted to remodel Bartlett instead considering its historical status on campus.

Once the Bartlett-Baker project is complete, UNI will request funding for remodeling the Industrial Technology Center, Strayer-Wood Theatre and potentially the Commons Ballroom. All three buildings are experiencing deferred maintenance for both electrical and mechanical issues. 

Students feeling frustrated or inconvenienced by the need to walk around the roped off areas can be assured that the project will be completed by the end of this semester. 

“I guess it is a little inconvenient,” said Nathan Schmid, a social science and Spanish major, “It is kind of surprising that they did not finish it over the summer, but I’ve just gotten used to it.”