The E.J. Ourso College of Business is developing design guidelines for the building of a new business college facility. The University is working with the architectural team ikon. 5 architects, and the local firm Robert Coleman and Partners Architects to prepare construction plans. William Lane, interim dean for the business college, said the school has faced space issues since the mid ’80s and has gone through a number of plans for a new facility. The current proposal is the closest these plans have come to realization. Lane said Hurricane Katrina postponed plans in 2005 because of an increase in construction costs. Space was reduced from 260,000 square feet to a little more than 150,000. Lane said some qualities were compromised in the original design to account for those changes. Lane said Patrick F. Taylor Hall, which currently houses the business and engineering colleges, lacks the appropriate elements to run a top-ranked program. He said he feels the building is not suited for modern business education. “We’ve got great programs, we’ve got great students and faculty,” Lane said. “We need a great facility to put them in.” Part of the plan includes adding space for students to socialize. Patrick F. Taylor Hall currently offers a small courtyard as the only social space. Lane said if students need to meet together they have to go somewhere outside the college. The proposed plan includes four buildings. Lane said the new facility will include office space, separate graduate and undergraduate classrooms, a 300 seat auditorium and a café. Lane said the aesthetics will echo the Italian style of the main campus but will not duplicate that style completely. The business college and College of Engineering currently share the same building. When the business college moves into the new building, the engineering college plans to renovate Patrick F. Taylor Hall. Zaki Bassiouni, dean of the engineering college, said the extra space will be used to accommodate the needs of the faculty and students. Proposed plans issued by the engineering college include a new high-bay area, upgrades and expansion of lab space and renovation of office space. The improvements will carry substantial costs. “These transformation plans require significant funds which we are in the process of raising from private sources,” Bassiouni said. Lane said the business college will be built on the current landscape services site. Emmett David, director of Physical Plant and Facility Services, said the landscape services building will be moving soon. “We will relocate to Skip Bertman Drive,” David said. The business college is in the process of raising $30 million to match an identical amount approved by the Louisiana Legislature. Lane said the college is raising money through private funds. The college’s funding to date is about $17 million short of its March 31, 2008, goal. Once the college completes fundraising, the next stage of planning will begin. Lane said the plan is to create “a campus within a campus.” “It is representative of all the strides we’ve taken, moving us forward, and it’s where we are going in the future,” Lane said.
—-Contact Sean Griffin at [email protected]