School News
Tony Jones Speaks about School Expansion and the Elusive NAB
By Heidi Broadhead
SAIC Student Government hosted an all-school meeting Tuesday, October 16, during which SAIC President Tony Jones addressed a list of questions related to various school issues.
School expansion emerged as the central topic, with a focus on what's happening with the North American Building (a.k.a. NAB, Evans Fur, 36 S. State). After a detailed presentation about the history of school expansion (see timeline), Jones directly addressed the rumors about NAB: "We do still own the Evans Fur building and we have no intention to market or sell the building at this time."
First, he gave the reasons for acquiring the building in the first place.
In 2000 SAIC hired Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, an architectural firm, to analyze our space usage and determine how much more space we really need. They said we were 200,000 square feet short, and this was just for academic and administrative space, it does not include the extra space we will eventually need to house students downtown.
The Evans Fur building is approximately 218,000 square feet, so it had the space, the exterior was in generally good condition, and it fit our design needs with its high ceilings, natural light and proximity to the school.
Jones described the challenges with acquiring and keeping building space in the loop. "The loop has become a popular place to live," Jones said. Other downtown schools - Roosevelt, DePaul, and Columbia - are buying up space for dorms and other buildings are being converted to condos.
"We're a poor school. Our issue is always can we find something ... before a commercial developer does."
When we bought the building a year and a half ago, the plan was to move the Betty Rymer Gallery and other public programs to the loop, so they would all be more accessible and visible, a move that started in 2001 with the Gene Siskel Film Center from what Jones called the "loneliest, coldest, bleakest corner of Chicago," the corner of Columbus and Jackson.
And, of course, the building was slated for academic programs and studios, particularly for those departments whose current facilities are inadequate. For example, the photography department in the Columbus Drive building was constructed in the early to mid-1970s, when technology was significantly different. Other examples are media, art and technology departments, which are currently retrofitted into the 112 S. Michigan building.
Although the exterior of the Evans Fur building was in good shape, the interior was, according to Jones, "an unmitigated disaster." It required a complete remodelling of elevators, water, electricity, etc. SAIC hired a contractor, and demolition was completed September 2001. Now the project is frozen.
"We haven't completely pulled the plug," Jones said. "We are reassessing."
About a year into the project, three things happened:
1) Estimated costs for the reconstruction were increasing far beyond anything we thought we could actually afford.
2) Developers admitted that they could not complete the work within our timeline of Labor Day 2002, which would push the completion date to Labor Day 2003.
3) Because the economy started on a downward spiral, exacerbated by the events of September 11, administrators anticipated that donors will now be more focused on humanitarian causes rather than funding for arts and education in coming months.
"We thought we could step back and reevaluate the project." According to Jones this entails reevaluating the best way to design the building to fit our needs, as well as looking at other alternatives, to "look at what we want and [determine] can we bring it in on budget?"
Alternatives to the old Evans Fur plan that have been discussed include: demolishing and rebuilding the space north of the Champlain building on Wabash, turning it into one large complex; using the two empty floors in Michigan; or renting something (Jones: "personally I'm not keen on renting space").
The role of students in future discussions has not been decided. Felice Dublon, dean of Student Affairs, indicated that students will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion process, but the administration has not determined when that will occur. Word from the president's office is that it will most likely happen through Student Government, so if students are interested in learning more about this or getting involved, the best route is through the student government presidents.
"We always go back to the student body," said Ethan Roeder during the meeting in relation to this topic. "Student Government is there to represent student opinion."
SAIC Expansion
1972 Started building the art & design school, currently known as the Columbus Drive Building. Finished in 1976.
1987 Purchased 37 S. Wabash to expand design areas and to expand the library (which used to be in the space that is now the Betty Rymer Gallery).
1992 Purchased the Charlie Club (hotel) at 112 S. Michigan for dorm and studio space; students moved in fall 1993.
1995 Bought 847 W. Jackson, space for Gallery 2 and museum storage; eventually plan to expand to more floors.
1996 Housing problems arose, SAIC wanted a dorm designed by artists for artists close by for security purposes; purchased 7 W. Madison (Chicago building) and converted to dorm space.
1999 Built a custom-designed residence hall at 162 N. State.
2000 Purchased North American Building/Evans Fur Building at 36 S. State.
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