EHS Building opens partially Monday
The Education and Human Services Building will open its doors Monday.
The office of the dean of Education and Human Services makes the move from Ronan Hall to the fourth floor of the highly-anticipated facility.
The building, which has been under construction since the summer of 2007, has been verified for occupancy next Monday and will be partially open to the public.
"You don't need a hard hat or an appointment, but there may be some entrances sealed off," said Kathy Koch, associate dean of the EHS College.
The east entrance will be used as the main entrance into the building, while other areas still are being worked on, said Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management.
"The plan was to have it done by May," Lawrence said. "I believe they are doing better than originally planned."
In the early stages of the project, the building was slated for a March 2009 opening, but was pushed back several times.
"There is some leeway," Koch said. "The substantial completion date was set for early March, with the actual move-in date a month later.
On April 20, one week later, the Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development also will begin to move in. Other departments in the college will follow afterwards.
Classes are scheduled to begin in the new facility during the Summer II session.
Koch and a small part of the staff will move into the fourth floor on Monday, followed by the rest of the staff the next day.
The third floor will feature a counseling center, with most classes taking place on the first and second floors. There also will be an outdoor learning center for children.
The dean's office has been anxiously awaiting the opening.
"We've been looking forward to this ever since the planning stage," Koch said. "We've taken many individual tours throughout construction, and we are very impressed."
Charter Schools
The Central Michigan University Center for Charter Schools will be moving as well.
"The whole team's excited," said Scott Ray III, director of external relations at the center. "We're moving back to the heart of campus and meeting up with our colleagues."
The center is currently located at the south end of the athletic campus in the Center for Applied Research and Technology.
They are also celebrating the 15th anniversary of CMU authorizing its first charter school. The center is the nation's largest university authorizer and has also seen some of the state's highest MEAP proficiency scores in the last two years.
"Having that all come together with the move in to the new building is very exciting," Ray said.
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