The historic Alumni Building at Ferris State University is undergoing a major renovation
on the Big Rapids campus.
Contractors are finishing updates to Ferris State University’s venerable Alumni Building, which will begin service later this summer as the base of Information Technology Services (ITS) for the campus and home of the University Archives.
Facilities Management Project Manager Karen Simmon said the professionals overseeing renovation and construction in the 93-year-old structure encountered and overcame considerable obstacles in their effort to support the transfer of the ITS Data Center from the adjacent West Building.
“We are pleased by the progress our contractors have made responding to all they encountered in their work to meet current code and accommodate significant technology upgrades to the Alumni Building,” Simmon said. “We intend to have ITS operating in that space by early August.”
Ferris’ Board of Trustees approved a $12.5 million appropriation in May 2021 to address the necessary Alumni Building renovations and raze the West Building, part of the complex along Oak Street on the northeast corner of campus.
“West Building had simply reached the end of its service life,” Simmon said. “Our goal was to preserve the history and tradition of the Alumni Building, then follow with the demolition of the West Building, before the close of the 2023 construction season.”
Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer Charlie Weaver said Alumni Building will provide Information Technology Services with several attributes, creating operational efficiencies for IT equipment and his staff.
“The largest benefit is our ability to place working groups on the same floor, offering us greater ease of interaction,” Weaver said. “Alumni Building will also have improved lighting, air conditioning and an uninterrupted power supply, to support campus technology operations better.”
The renovation plan also includes a training room, which Weaver said will be a university asset.
“This is a large space where meetings could be held to offer presentations on the Banner system or review campus cybersecurity issues,” Weaver said. “Non-technical gatherings, such as diversity or other subject sessions, will also be welcome. The training room is simply an area available outside of student instruction to benefit the university community.”
Alumni Building, which opened in 1929, is the oldest structure on the Ferris campus. It was named to honor thousands of alumni whose donations funded the construction. For decades, the multipurpose building had classrooms, office space and a gymnasium home to Ferris’ basketball program. The February 1950 fire that destroyed “Old Main,” the original home of Ferris Institute, did not damage the nearby Alumni Building.