'An engineering feat': Education Building opens its doors, now open to the public
Students walking along the east end of the Education and Human Services Building may have been surprised by what they saw Monday morning.
The fence in front of the entrance had been removed.
The Office of the Dean made the switch from Ronan Hall to the new facility early Monday morning, and the building became open to the public for the first time after ground was broken in the summer of 2007.
Kathy Koch, associate dean of the College of Education and Human Services, was not at all disappointed.
"We are overwhelmed with the quality and unique features of the building," she said. "The lighting and space is wonderful - it's an engineering feat."
The fourth floor is entirely completed, while parts of the lower floors are still being finished.
The first floor features labs along the main hallway and a lecture hall at the north end, which is complete with a large (wide screen) projector.
To the south will be a children's learning center, with a play area outside. A small "reading nook" is in the southeast corner of the lot, and will be used for reading activities and puppet shows.
The second and third floors remain mostly empty with other departments in the college moving into the building starting next week.
Each end of the upper floors also features conference/seminar rooms, which include glass walls on both sides.
The "green roof" is an especially unique part of the building, Koch said. The roof of the building and the auditorium are covered in a layer of sedum plants, which are just beginning to grow through irrigation.
Areas still being worked on include the main stairway in the middle of the building, the interior of the elevators and several entrances. Full completion of the building is expected next month, Koch said.
Landscaping around the building will be finished in the summer.
"There have been multiple crews that have worked on this building," Koch said. "There is a tremendous amount of coordination that has taken place to get the building done."
Education students are anxiously awaiting the Summer II semester when they will be able to take classes in the facility.
"There's a lot of space and it's definitely a worthwhile investment," said Craig Johnson, a Lake City freshman who plans to major in speech education. "With this being the teacher-ed building, I don't know any potential student who would want to go anywhere else for a school's teaching program."
Cameron McConnell currently has his major in English education signed, but still has numerous EDU classes that he will start taking next semester.
"I'm really glad that the timing worked out well," the Rochester Hills sophomore said. "The education program was really in need of a new building."
After the first full day of work in her new office, Koch noticed an immediate difference between the new and former buildings.
"It's such a total difference between the two," she said. "We're not going to miss Ronan too much."
Ronan Hall will no longer be home to EDU classes, but will bring in several offices from the Bovee University Center and will undergo renovations on the second and third floor.
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