After the completion of the new Sampson Hoffland Science Laboratories and Research Center, construction will continue elsewhere on campus. Pending approval at the Board of Regents meeting in May, renovations on Valders Memorial Hall of Science will begin this August or September, with possible construction of new Baker Village units starting next spring, as well as an overhaul of Towers is slated for next summer.

The Research Center will house the biology and chemistry departments and will add laboratory and office space but no classrooms. This makes renovations in Valders necessary.

“Even though it was completed in 1962, [Valders] is still a good facility,” said President Richard Torgerson. “But it’s obviously a very dated facility. The renovation of Valders is really the completion of the initiative to provide the latest and best facilities we can for the science students.”

The Research Center is paid for, but how the new renovations will be financed is still being decided.

“We have budgeted in the 2008-09 budget around $750,000 to help finance [the renovations],” said Vice President for Finance and Administration Diane Tacke. “Money has been set aside.”

Although money has been budgeted for this project, the Valders renovations alone will probably cost between $8.1 and $8.5 million, meaning loans will probably be necessary.

“We will have to go out and borrow money at tax exempt rates,” said Tacke. “Rates right now are incredibly low. If there is a good time to borrow, it is now.”

The loan process for private universities is different than that of other organizations.

“It’s very similar to a bank process,” said Tacke. “Because we’re private, we have to be sponsored by a public, not-for-profit organization, so Decorah has often sponsored us.”

Most of the money going into the Valders renovations will be for deferred maintenance.

“Close to $4 million of [the cost] is for [things] like needing to put in a new roof, energy efficient windows, heating ventilation and air conditioning systems,” said Tacke.

Dieseth and Miller Halls are also buildings with deferred maintenance needs.

“It’s to the point where we really need to give [Towers] a little more TLC — a lot more TLC,” said Tacke. “We just need to take that pill and swallow it and get it done.”

Brandt, Olson and Ylvisaker Halls have undergone fairly recent renovations, but Towers has not been extensively worked on in quite some time.

“Towers is mostly occupied by sophomores,” said Torgerson. “We need to do for our sophomores what we’ve done for our first-year students.”

No plans for Towers are available yet, but student input is encouraged.

“If there are students who are interested, they should contact Student Life in the fall,” said Tacke. “Students may have ideas that we as a committee would never have thought of.”

Towers and Valders need updates in maintenance and energy efficiency. The administration is trying to gain Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design certification with the renovations in Valders.

“When we made the decision to be a part of this College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, one of the commitments you make is that in any new or refurbished construction, you would make every effort to make it LEED certifiable,” said Torgerson.

The expansion to Baker Village is being done in response to Baker’s growing popularity.

“Baker village is very popular,” said Torgerson. “We have twice as many people who want to live there every year as we have spaces for.”

If the present plans are approved at May’s Board of Regents meeting, Baker and Valders will likely be finished by the fall of 2009, and work on Towers would be completed over three summers. Although construction may be a presence in Towers and Valders for some time to come, students are still excited.

“[Valders] just needs to be updated,” said Drew Doescher (‘10). “There has to be some give and take, and I’m willing to give on this in order to have better buildings.”