LSU Facility Services announced in late September capital outlay projects for on-campus buildings for the upcoming year, including requests for the state Legislature in the spring to fix air pressure issues in Choppin Hall and renovate Huey P. Long Field House.
Choppin Hall, home to the LSU Department of Chemistry, experienced a “negative air environment,” according to the presentation.
“A room with negative pressure will pull air into it when doors or windows are opened,” said Tammy Millican, assistant director for Facility Services, in an email. “This prevents microorganisms and contaminated material from escaping through opened doors and windows.”
Negative room pressure is often used in hospitals to prevent cross-contamination between rooms by trapping air in isolation rooms, preventing contagious diseases from spreading.
A negative air environment is necessary in labs to stop chemicals from escaping into hallways causing a safety hazard, Millican said.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning in Choppin Hall need renovations to make it safer, she said.
Millican said floors three through six will get new air systems to control the negative air environment, which will make the building safer and more energy efficient. The project is in the funding request stage and will be presented to the Legislature in the spring.
The project will cost more than $41 million, with $4.2 million allotted for 2016-17.
Also announced during the presentation were plans to renovate Huey P. Long Field House, listed as priority one.
The project will modernize the interior, renovate the gymnasium and turn the abandoned pool into a multi-use green space, which will include a water feature.
Millican said the hardball courts will be converted to kinesiology lab space, while the gymnasium will become an Independent and Distance Learning studio.
“This renovation will actually restore some of the historic spaces on the first floor that used to house Student Support into a student use area,” Millican said. “Some of the architectural intrusions added during earlier renovations that added office space to the first floor will also be removed.”
Millican said the intent of the project is to consolidate the College of Human Sciences and Education space from the five buildings it currently resides in to two buildings.
The Huey P. Long Field House was constructed in 1928, according to the presentation, and the pool has gone unused since 2002.
The cost of the renovation is $18 million, with $1.8 million allocated for the upcoming year. Millican said neither project will begin construction until 2017.
Some projects are more susceptible than others to funding issues with the state Legislature, but no specific effects are currently known, LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said in a text.
“It ultimately rests in the hands of legislators when they vote on house bill two during session,” he said.