The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is considering whether a two-story home that once belonged to the son of one of Ball State University's founders should become the home of the Honors College.
Honors College Dean Jim Ruebel said the university wants to move the college to the former home of Ed and Virginia Ball, which is near the Music Instruction Building on Riverside Avenue. The building is tentatively set to open in 2009, Ruebel said.
"It puts us in the center of campus instead of on the north edge," he said. "Both in realistic and symbolic terms, it makes it a more appropriate and useful situation.
Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president for facilities planning and management, said the university plans to begin renovations during the summer.
There are no official designs yet, Kenyon said, but after the building is renovated, it will include classrooms, conference rooms and offices for the dean and associate dean.
"It will be a nice, high-quality space," he said. "We're recognizing the importance of the Honors College to Ball State and we want to advance the quality of its facilities."
The university will also have to make the building handicap accessible, Kenyon said. The plan includes adding accessible pathways and restrooms and an elevator, he said.
Renovations are expected to take about nine months, he said.
Tom Morrison, associate vice president for business affairs, said the university has budgeted $1.2 million for the renovations.
All the money came from private donors, $1 million of which came from the Ball Foundation, Morrison said.
"We'll use [the donations] to mainly renovate the facility and bring the facility up to code so it can be used for an educational purpose," he said.
Any project costing more than $1 million must be approved by the State Budget Committee as well as the Board of Higher Education before renovations can begin, Morrison said.
"We don't anticipate any problems with those approvals," he said.
Ruebel said the move could help the Honors College recruit and retain more students, and the centralized location would help the Honors College organize more programs and activities because of the close proximity to Bracken Library and Emens Auditorium.
"All in all, it's a 100-percent better move," he said.
Planned renovations:
- three classrooms- seminar room- conference room- resource room- offices for the dean and associate dean- restroom upgrades- handicap access- heating and ventilation upgrades
(sources: Kevin Kenyon and Tom Morrison)
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