Ever since Buntrock Commons opened, students have wondered, what is happening with the old student center?

Last year the Art and Dance departments made students aware of their plans to renovate the center. The Art department has been working on getting a new art building for 10 years, and the restoring the Student Center was much cheaper than building something new.

Some people have asked if St. Olaf really needs a new art building? Flaten Hall, the current art building, was built in 1932. It was originally a dormitory and was last remodeled in the 1950Ős.

The current problems with Flaten are a lack of space, adequate ventilation, and safety precautions. The building is not designed to accommodate todayŐs industrial air quality requirements for a safe environment. The building is currently at its maximum electrical capacity, with limited ventilation available only in the printmaking, photography, and sculpture studios.

In addition to this, all of the offices and studio spaces are extremely overcrowded, the number of graduating studio art majors has gone from less than 20, ten years ago, to more than 50 now, and some students have studios in the public hallways.

The Dance department is facing a similar overcrowding situation. They currently hold classes in five different buildings and students must regularly carry equipment, costumes, and props from building to building. "This is very exciting", said Jan Roberts, Head of the St. Olaf Dance Department. "The Dance department will finally have a home."

In 1996, the possibility of renovating the St. Olaf Student Center into facilities for art and dance was cited as part of the Framework Plan. The high cost of renovating Flaten Hall and the flexibility of the Center made renovating it much more cost effective. The central location is also ideal for providing greater visibility for the arts. Moving the Visual Arts and Dance departments into the Center will also work into St. OlafŐs plan for a Fine Arts Complex. This plan involves having all of the Fine Arts, (Music, Dance, Visual Arts, and Theatre) in one small quadrant of Campus. "This will make it much easier for us to work on collaborative projects," said Jan Shoger, chair of the Fine Arts Facilities Planning Committee, and Studio Art professor.

Last year, the committee hired Hammel Green & Abrahamson: Architects & Engineers for the Fine Arts, to do the plans for the building. The renovations are going to cost approximately $10.5 million dollars of which the St. Olaf Developing Office has already raised about half.

The demolition of the Student Center began last May and the building is currently completely stripped. Construction workers are replacing all of the electricity, plumbing, and heating/air conditioning. All of the windows will also have to be replaced, as those currently in the Student Center now, are not thermal and leak. "When you renovate a building you have to bring it completely up to current codes," said Shoger. "I think the students will be surprised when the outside of the center doesnŐt look exactly like it did before."

The building is currently on schedule and within budget. If things go according to plan, the Art and Dance departments will be moving in next August and the building should be able to open next fall. "We donŐt think there are going to be any problems," said Shoger. "There are generally less problems with renovated buildings than [with building] new ones."

The Student Center is going to have much more space for both departments. The top floor will be mainly for Dance. It will have three studios, a large seminar room, and a lot of faculty offices. The main floor will house the Steensland Museum, where the bookstore used to be. The Student Gallery will reside in the old Fireside Lounge while the drawing, painting and printmaking studios, and several art faculty offices will occupy the remaining area of the first floor. The bottom floor will consist of the photography, sculpture, and ceramics studios, a Media Center, and many student studios. A foundry, the only part of the building being built on, will also be on the ground floor.

Flaten Hall is one of two sites being considered for a New Science Complex, but construction will not be started for at least five years. In the meantime, Flaten may be used as a language lab. The Education Department will also continue to be located in Flaten. Other departments may renovate it for their own use as well.