$14,809,771.00! We have been working for more than a decade to try and fund a major renovation and addition to the Architecture Building. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation has provided this wonderful gift which will bring our dreams to life. The road to this gift was a long one; one filled with hard work, optimism, and passion. Many people deserve our thanks.
First, this opportunity would not have happened without the strong support of the OSU administration. President David Schmidly made this project OSU’s top priority for the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. Without his endorsement, success would not have been possible. Provost Marlene Strathe has been a strong advocate for the School of Architecture since she came to OSU. She observed the Design Charrette held in 2004 and that event solidified her support for the project. Dean Karl Reid has been the School’s tireless supporter and spokesperson. His leadership as Dean was crucial in our success. He has always recognized the School’s unique and important position in the college and given us his full and enthusiastic support.
The OSU Foundation also deserves our heartfelt thanks. The leadership of the Foundation supported this project fully. President Kirk Jewell and V.P. Bob Clyne were both instrumental in our success. Jason Caniglia (Assistant V.P. for Development) worked especially hard in helping us craft the grant submission and in developing relationships with the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation which assisted us along the way.
Many other individuals made important contributions during the final site visit. Malinda Fisher Berry (former chair of the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees, Joe Hall (A&M Regent), General Al Goodbary (OSU Chief of Staff), David Bosserman (OSU V.P. for Administration & Finance), Clare Woodside (Benham OSU Masterplan Team) and Jim Hasenbeck (School of Architecture PAC Chair) all played an important role in our success.
A&M Regent Burns Hargis accompanied President Schmidly and me to Las Vegas for the final presentation to their board and made a great presentation showcasing his support and our need.
And finally, and perhaps most importantly, our thanks must go to our faculty, students, and alumni. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation only invests in the highest quality organizations and our past and present successes made us a great match for this partnership.
So what is next? The confetti has been swept away and the champaign glasses polished and stored. We have conducted a search process to assemble the design team and the design process is underway. Included on the following pages are drawings and images showcasing our progress in the schematic design phase. The design effort is a team effort combining OSU School of Architecture faculty working with Studio Architecture (OKC), Wallace Engineering (Tulsa), Phillips and Bacon (Tulsa), and Boldt Construction, who will serve as CM. Jeff Williams and I have led the faculty team but many other faculty members have made significant contributions. Four architecture students, Brad Bailey, Scott Goodner, Jason Coates, and Josh Ray have worked with the team during this summer. The project is slated to begin construction in the summer of 2007, with completion by the spring of 2009. This coincides with the School’s 100th Anniversary. We will have a huge celebration, so start making plans now to return to Stillwater in 2009.
This project will mean so much for the School of Architecture. We will fully renovate our existing 37,000 sf building and add approximately 45,000 sf of new space. One of the goals of the project was to bring the School in closer contact with the OSU community. As such, the project has several features that help us make these important connections. We will provide a 300 seat auditorium which will be the premier campus facility of this type. The project also provides several classrooms which will benefit both the School of Architecture and OSU. The architecture gallery will be greatly expanded and can be used to host university wide exhibitions on occasion.
The Architecture Library will more than double in size and will be readily accessible to the public on the first floor. Also included in the project will be a new computer lab facility, a new shop and construction area, a daylighting laboratory, expanded space for archives, an expanded administrative area to accommodate a growing faculty, and of course new design studio space and break-out space for group critiques and juries.
An important element of the project was how our building might integrate more fully into the physical campus environment. As part of this project, Athletic Avenue (south of the existing Architecture Building) will close and become a pedestrian link back to the core campus and library. Our new facility will form one side of a new pedestrian quadrangle which represents the last under-developed quad on campus. Our challenge is to find a physical expression which feels at ease in the campus context, but also represents the ideals of the school. The building will address energy issues and will help OSU establish new ideas for energy-conscious design. Our new facility will be called the Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building.
From an academic standpoint, this new facility will allow us to develop an outstanding graduate program to parallel our undergraduate programs. We are currently studying various ways of developing these programs. Their focus will certainly embrace our strength in combining architecture and architectural engineering. In order to accomplish this, we are growing our faculty. Two new positions have been added in the past two years and I am confident that several additional positions will be added in the next couple of years.
A critical part of the commitment that OSU has made to the Foundation is a pledge to raise $3M for an endowment to take care of the building. This endowment will ensure that the building stays in First Class condition and its equipment is maintained to the highest standards into the future. We will rely on you to help us meet this pledge. A fundraising plan has been established and is under-way. The campaign will be completed in four phases. Phase One is the identification of potential prospects for major gifts. Phase Two is the solicitation of the very top prospects for leadership gifts ($500,000 and over). Phase Three is the cultivation and solicitation of major gifts in the $100,000 - $500,000 range. Phase Four, the final phase, will reach out to the entire alumni base. Our goal is to have 100% participation from our alumni in this investment in the school’s future. We are currently in Phase Two.
A special thanks goes to Cal Vogt for kicking off the campaign with a
very significant gift. Cal's son Steve (1975 B.S. Arch) and
grandson Eric (2003 BArch) are both graduates of our program.
The new building project is not the only great thing happening at the school. Our faculty are still hard at work in educating future architects and architectural engineers to make vital contributions to the profession. We have outstanding faculty and students who are achieving success in many ways. Our students continue to be in great demand and we keep hearing from their employers about their great abilities and talents.
I am especially proud of the wide-variety of international study programs available to our students. We live in a global economy and it is important for our students to have experiences outside of this country. In addition to our ongoing European Studies Program, we offer programs where students can study in Mexico, Canada, and Belgium.
I hope you share my pride in our School and my enthusiasm for the future!
Sincerely,
Randy Seitsinger, AIA
Professor and Head
