By Katie RessmeyerThe Daily Northwestern
Design plans for the renovation of Annie May Swift Hall will be finalized this quarter, with construction set to begin in early spring.
“We’ve been able to provide all the programmatic requirements that the School of Communication wanted,” said Ronald Nayler, associate vice president for facilities management. “It is a major rehabilitation.”
Construction will begin following the completion of design plans and bids from contractors.
Officials had planned for the building to reopen by fall 2007 but are now hoping for the end of this year, said James Webster, a Communications Studies professor and the School of Communication representative for the project. The renovations were announced in February 2006.
Annie May Swift housed a number of offices for School of Communication staff. The faculty temporarily is being housed at 1800 Sherman Ave.
WNUR also is based in Annie May Swift. The radio station is planning a permanent move to Louis Hall, said Music senior Peter Debelak, WNUR rock Music director. The station will move at the beginning of March, when construction of their new studio is complete, Debelak said.
Station officials haven’t started to prepare for the move but said they must vacate the space after the plans are finalized, Debelak said.
“Construction (of Swift) can’t begin until then,” Webster said.
A black box theater will replace the WNUR studio, Webster said. All renovations will focus on the interior of the building in order to preserve the historical features on the building’s facade. Improvements will include more stairways and bathrooms, enhancements to classrooms and auditoriums, and an elevator.
In addition, all mechanical, electrical and plumbing facilities will be replaced, as well as the heating and cooling system, Webster said.
Windows will be added to the lowest level of Swift to increase the inlet of natural light, Webster said. When the building reopens, the Performance Studies Department will be housed on the lower level.
“It won’t be a radically different floor plan,” Webster said.
Although construction plans have not been finalized, selective demolition has been started to gain a better understanding of the building’s condition, Webster said.
“The way it was engineered really determines to a certain extent what we can do to the inside,” Webster said.
Swift was completed in 1895 and has undergone a number of other renovations. Gustavus F. Swift financed the original construction of the building, which is named for his daughter Annie May Swift, who died as an NU student in 1889.
The Annie May Swift renovations are the beginning of a string of improvement projects planned for older buildings on campus.
Reach Katie Ressmeyer at [email protected].
