Trafton Science Center, one of the state’s biggest college classroom buildings, soon will be even bigger, and a major renovation will follow if the state Legislature approves funding next year.
Minnesota State University, Mankato broke ground on a $32.9 million, 67,000-square-foot addition at Trafton last fall, adding 21st-century chemistry labs to replace the outdated space in use today.
If the Legislature approves another $25.5 million in the next bonding bill, the university will begin renovating more than 52,000 square feet in Trafton in the second half of 2008.
The project is a high priority within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the $271 million capital request that MnSCU announced last month, Trafton was the highest ranked stand-alone project. (A basket of deferred maintenance items was ranked higher.)
If approved, renovation work would begin with large-scale asbestos abatement, followed by the replacement of the building’s HVAC system with a high-efficiency system that aims to cut energy use.
Classroom renovations and exterior remodeling would follow, bringing the building’s systems in line with its science center counterparts in the MnSCU system.
The project is the latest incarnation of a trend MnSCU has been pushing for the past eight years. Officials have made science facilities a priority this decade, and as of this spring MnSCU has invested more than $260 million to update and expand old facilities and to add science labs in community colleges that previously had none.
The Trafton project represents about one-third of the $66 million for science buildings in the new MnSCU budget request.
Much like their peers in St. Cloud, Winona and Moorhead, Mankato’s science departments have seen significant growth over the years.
When Trafton was built, it housed 15 programs and about 700 majors. Today, there are twice as many programs and 2,800 majors with expanded curriculum choices.
Trafton was expanded by 55,000 square feet in the early 1990s, but in a tour of other MnSCU institutions, John Frey, dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at MSU-Mankato, found that Trafton didn’t measure up when it came to breathing room.
“Compared with our sister institutions, the square footage we had for each of our departments was way below the average,” he said. “We didn’t have as much space as our sister institutions, but at the same time our design was good. And with these projects we’ll be positioned very well.”
Minneapolis-based Hammel Green and Abrahamson (HGA) has designed the entire two-phase project, while Shaw-Lundquist Associates of St. Paul is building the $32 million addition.
Once the renovation is funded, a general contractor will be selected through public bids.
With only one addition since opening 35 years ago, Trafton is already more self-contained than some sprawling college buildings that don’t even try to mask the fact that they’ve undergone several disjointed expansions.
Larry Kohanek, director for planning and construction at MSU, said the building’s design makes it more energy efficient by nature. And the new addition will feature energy-sipping systems like daylight harvesting and a “heat recovery system” that helps heat and cool air flowing into the building via fume hoods used in the chemistry labs.
The natural lighting in particular will make the addition stand out from the current building, which has almost no external windows. The change is something students and professors alike are eagerly waiting to experience. “Generally speaking, it’s a dungeon of a building right now,” Kohanek said.
That reality won’t change after the addition and renovation are complete, but officials nevertheless predict Trafton will soon offer a far more pleasant learning environment.
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