Beardshear Hall will receive many changes in the next two years, as several offices will be moved upstairs or even across campus in an effort to meet three important goals.

“Three components will be to correct laws, redo the ground floor and the remodeling of office suites,” said Steve Prater, university project manager for the temporary move.

For the first component, a new fire protection system will be installed to help pull the smoke out of the building, Prater said. The renovation will also include sprinkling services for each room and additional smoke detectors.

Beardshear was fire-protective when built in the early 1900s, but it doesn’t meet many current state and federal building regulations, he said.

“There are codes for all life and safety issues,” Prater said. “The first concern is to correct several life-saving issues.”

The bathrooms will also be remodeled and the elevators renewed to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The exterior stairs to the east will be replaced and will get new hand railings.

The second component is to establish the whole ground floor as the Student Answer Center, Prater said.

“We want to create a much friendlier, more open student center on the bottom floor,” he said.

Prater said the ground floor will be improved with better lighting and a brighter atmosphere for the students.

The ground floor’s new additions will include the ISUCard office, a department of the Registrar’s Office and the Career Placement office.

The third goal is to regroup offices and suites primarily to help in the ground floor, Prater said. The ground floor’s occupants will be relocated to the former Child Development Lab, Pearson Hall or third-floor Beardshear temporarily.

The groups moving include Training and Development, Internal Audit, Human Resources, Affirmative Action, Extension Staff, Institutional Research, Vice Provost Extension, Vice Provost for Undergraduates, Student Answer Center, Student Financial Aid and Accounts Receivable.

According to the Beardshear Hall Temporary Move Plan, some of the offices will be in their permanent spots by April 2001 and others by January 2002, but the rest must wait until the end of the third phase in November 2002.

Linda Wilson, coordinator of Contracts and Grants for Extension, said she is sure being closer to the vice provost’s office will help improve communication among departments.

“The administrative group in one location will help those groups,” she said. “They won’t have to run around when they get here.”

Although she said the project committee is helpful, Wilson also said she foresees some difficulties in the temporary move to the Child Development Lab.

“One of the challenges will be financially,” she said. “Checks will still come to Beardshear, and we will be located across campus.”

The Office of Institutional Research will benefit from the renovation, said Lynn Zwagerman, interim director of Institutional Research. The department has hired one more staff member to occupy the new space it will gain.

“We’ll have one more office, one more office to acquire,” she said.

Prater said university officials will put the project out for bid in May and hope to have the company contracted in June.