Renovation plans for the high rises have been in the works for nearly four years, but now that Penn has finally hired a tried-and-true team to do the dirty work, the three much-anticipated makeovers are a step closer to commencement.
Architecture firm MGA Partners will take on the task of remodeling Hamilton College House this summer and will finish renovations on the high rise by the end of the following summer.
The Hamilton Village makeover will be completed within a time frame of six summers, or perhaps even sooner if the University decides this fall to work on more than one building at once, thereby consolidating the entire project.
"It could take six years in all, or four or five years with overlap," College Houses and Academic Services Director David Brownlee said. "Those are the possibilities."
The University announced in February that it would allot $80 million over six years to remodel the high rises. The renovations will be the first step in an overhaul of Hamilton Village, which was first announced in 1998 and has faced significant setbacks and delays since.
"The overall vision is the addition of 700 to 1,000 units in new buildings -- smaller, Quad-like set-ups that will shield the high rises from standing on their own," Vice President for Facilities Services and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said, noting that timetables have not been set for these four-year-old goals. "That is the long-term vision."
Blaik said MGA was the University's first choice because of its experience in handling not only infrastructure issues but also aesthetic improvements.
"They ranked the highest among the three or four groups we interviewed," Blaik said. "We want to make the imposing structures more humane and more friendly."
Brownlee added that Penn also selected the firm because of its ability to both renovate modern exteriors and design useful interiors. While the 30-year-old high rises require renovation primarily because certain parts have exhausted their life spans, "there are also bigger demands on the buildings for performance spaces, new offices, better computer labs, exercise rooms and music practice rooms," Brownlee said.
This summer's to-do list includes concrete repair, the installation of a sprinkler system and improved fire alarms and the replacement of two elevators -- the other two units will be replaced over the course of the 2002-2003 academic year.
And the following summer, the architecture firm will complete such tasks as creating new public spaces in the building, refurnishing each room and replacing the existing metal and glass on the building's facade.
MGA also planned and implemented office space for Facilities and Real Estate Services as well as the Penn Children's Center in the former General Electric Building in 2000 and remodeled the Annenberg School for Communication in 1999.
Blaik said that MGA's economic efficiency is a plus. The group averaged expenses of only $100 per square foot in its work on the Facilities and Real Estate offices.
The approved budget for the Hamilton renovation is $26.5 million, and the other two high rises should cost about the same, according to Brownlee.
"But inflation may push it up a bit," he added.
Harrison College House Faculty Master Alan Strudler said that the current six-year time frame makes sense.
"Quality construction never proceeds at a lightning pace, and there are financial constraints as well," Strudler said. "But six years seems like a reasonable pace, considering these two constraints."
