New building looks promising

Editor:

Jennifer Quilici should be congratulated on an excellent and informative article in the Wildcat about the new Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (AME) Building going up at Mountain and Speedway ("Dept. looks toward new building," Sept. 12). I should like to provide some additional information for those who are interested in knowing a bit more about the new facility.

First, I might mention that the architect of record for the building is Hoover Berg Desmond of Denver and John Kulseth Associates of Tucson. The building's design is truly outstanding, and I think the architect should be mentioned by name. Similarly, the construction is of high quality, since the building is intended to last for 50-100 years, so I think the contractor also should be mentioned by name. The contractor is Sletten Construction Company of Phoenix, Ariz. and Great Falls, Mont., and the construction manager is Sundt Corporation.

Portions of the facility that the entire campus will use and appreciate include not only the food-service area and the acoustically-tuned auditorium on the ground floor, but also the CCIT PC lab which will be on the floor directly above the auditorium. In the foyer just outside the auditorium will be a small retractable fountain that will disappear into the floor when not in use.

Also on Level 3 (first floor up from the ground), the South Building will include three regular classrooms of various sizes. The top level of the South Building will include five instructional labs and two computer labs, aimed primarily at teaching AME students. These labs plus several more in the first two floors of the North Building emphasize the hands-on approach combined with a strong theoretical and computer-oriented education we are providing our undergraduate students.

Besides the student interface office and faculty offices, the North Building will also provide office space and laboratories for graduate students. Faculty and secretarial offices and shops for the technical staff and students will also be located in the North Building. The architects and the faculty worked together to provide plenty of places for faculty and students to interact informally outside of the classroom, throughout the building, in the food-service area and the courtyard. Needless to say, the faculty, staff and students are all excited about moving into this new facility.

William P. Cosart

Associate Dean for Administration

College of Engineering and Mines

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