After nearly six years of
proposals and planning,
several renovation projects
are beginning at the Bucks
Newtown campus. Some
are expected to cost over
$22 million over the span
of 20 years.
According to a Bucks
Board of trustees meeting
log, five projects were
approved on May 10 for
the fiscal year 2010 to
2011.
The board is seeking
matching funds from the
Pennsylvania Department
of Education.
“A lot of exciting stuff is
going on.” Dean Maureen
McCreadie said.
Last summer the lecture
hall in Penn Hall was
remodeled. Two new classrooms
were added that
hold up to 30 students.
Ricky Curtis, 20, a film
major from Warminster
said, “It is wonderful now.
Really comfortable. Before
it was awful, everything
was falling apart and I
swear there were bees in
the ceiling.”
The Founders Hall building
will be receiving an
addition, over 20 years.
The plan calls for the construction
of a new academic
building covering 51,000
square feet. This addition is
expected to cost
$22,567,580.
The gym deck will also be
repaired.
“We’re hoping to build on
top of the gym deck, fixing
the leaky roof of the Hub,”
McCreadie added.
The project cost has been
raised from an originally
projected $1,160,760 to
$1,237,285.
As early as the spring of
2011, renovations of the
library are expected to take
place. A librarian stated
that the lower level of the
library may be shut down
for a semester as construction
takes place. The project
is said to “co-locate”
services within the three
levels of the library,
increasing access, awareness,
and convenience.
Bucks is proposing a one
year cash project of $7,000
for the library renovations.
Director of Library
Services, Linda McCann
was unavailable for comment.
There are plans to renovate
the cafeteria serving
area, which the board of
trustees log said was “in
need of total transformation.”
The college proposed
a one-year cash project of
$5,000.
The last proposed project
is to renovate the gym terrace.
The gym was built in
1968. It does not have an
elevator to the main level
nor ADA compliant men’s
and women’s bathrooms.
The college proposed a one
year project costing $640,
000.
Director of Operations,
Mark Grisi was unavailable
for comment about the
projects.
Previous projects such as
the renovation of the Allied
Health Building and the
gymnasium and library
lobby were done by
Watkins Architect, but it is
unclear if they will be
hired for future projects.
In May 2010, the Upper
Bucks campus built a $15
million addition. The board
meeting log also approved
a one year cash project of
$440, 000 to add 80 parking
spaces and additional
lighting at the Lower
Bucks campus.