WCC continues long-term renovations across campus

Alice McGuire | Editor

Major renovations are underway at Washtenaw Community College. Current projects include restrooms in the Student Center, auditoriums in the Crane Liberal Arts and Science building, and a variety of classrooms. 

Craig Whipstock, vice president of facilities, maintenance, and grounds, said the primary reason for the renovations is ensuring reliability by being mindful of the age of equipment. 

“As things get older, repair parts become harder to find,” Whipstock said.  

With regard to classrooms and large learning spaces, Brandon Tucker, vice president of instruction, said that higher-use spaces are prioritized. 

“The budget is dependent upon the room and what the needs are,” Tucker said. 

Whipstock described the renovations of the student center bathrooms as a “full renovation” and cited the cost of the project as $1.3 million. Currently, the bathroom on the first floor is under construction. 

“We took it down to bare walls,” said Whipstock, who went on to explain that this is the first renovation of this scale. “This building was built in the late 70s, so it had old, galvanized piping. We changed all that out.” 

Access and technology

All renovations, Whipstock said, entail bringing the area up to current codes, which includes ADA accessibility. 

LA 240, the auditorium on the second floor of the Crane Liberal Arts and Science building, has been fully renovated at a cost of $1.1 million, and LA 140 is currently under construction. 

One notable change, Tucker said, is that the auditorium was upgraded from a traditional projector to a multi-screen setup. 

“Now you have multiple screens so that students, wherever they’re sitting, they can be able to see what’s being presented,” said Tucker, who also pointed out that the room now has more left-handed seats. 

One notable room newly under construction is OE 149, a simulated clean room in the Larry L. Whitworth Occupational Education building. 

“What’s exciting about that is that we’re going to be able to, as part of our semiconductor and microelectronics program, be able to show students kind of what it will be like to be in that industry,” said Tucker. 

Elevating the elevators

Additionally, renovations to the elevators in the Crane Liberal Arts and Science were recently proposed to the Board of Trustees. One elevator in LA was modernized about three years ago. 

If approved, Whipstock said he anticipates a six-month time span for each elevator renovation and that the modernization project will take about 2-3 years as not all can be taken down at the same time. 

“We’ll get away from analog emergency phones to more voice-over IP type of things. So all these elevators are going to go through a major renovation, not just a little modernization,” said Whipstock.

Many more renovations, large and small, are in progress or on the way, according to Whipstock. Students can expect the main loop around the campus to be under construction over the summer semester as well as ongoing repairs to sidewalks and curbs, new compressed air systems in the OE buildings, and many other periphery projects. 

Tucker said that care is taken to minimize disruption to students, with much work taking place during the night shift or between semesters. 

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