Facility issues discussed at NWACC meeting
Posted on Friday, April 4, 2008
BENTONVILLE - Everything from renovating old buildings to constructing new ones was discussed Thursday during Northwest Arkansas Community College's Land Use and Facilities Committee meeting.
The committee received an update on renovations to Burns Hall, which is in the process of receiving a new roof. The roof could be done as early as May, weather permitting, but will definitely be completed by mid-June, said Jim Lay, NWACC director of construction.
The next major renovation project for Burns Hall will be on its interior. There is enough money in the budget for the project, Lay told the committee, with a 10 percent contingency fund available.
"Anytime we do remodeling, we always find stuff that we didn't realize was there," Lay said. "It's important to have a large contingency fund for that. Our fund is nearly 10 percent, and we feel good about that."
The next discussion surrounded the construction of the new Shewmaker Center for Global Business Development. The college has had ongoing concerns about the planned Eighth Street interchange, which will run near the planned new facility. The new building's footprint was moved about 30 feet to the east to better accommodate the state's plans to construct the interchange. Officials supporting the college are still working with the city of Bentonville and the state to make the interchange's impact on the college as negligible as possible, the committee was told.
The committee also received a summary of results from focus groups that were held in February and March. Members of the groups, held in both Benton and Washington counties, were asked what the college is doing well and what it could do better in its efforts to serve the community. Increased access to the college and more partnerships with other educational entities were key needs that were raised, said Susan Holmes, cofacilitator of NWACC's Master Plan Revision Task Force. The task force, which hosted the focus groups, is in the process of revising the college's master plan.
The final discussion of the day involved forming an advisory council to help make decisions regarding artwork on campus. Decisions regarding what portion of a building's budget should be dedicated to purchasing artwork will be discussed at next month's Land Use Committee meeting.
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