On Nov. 1, Grand Valley State University’s Board of Trustees voted to renovate buildings on both Allendale and Pew campuses. The buildings included are Mackinac Hall, Manitou Hall and the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences (CHS) Simulation Center. All projects are being funded by the Campus Development Fund. 

Mechanical renovations will be done to Mackinac Hall and Manitou Hall in 2020. It’s proposed to include two new air handling units and associated equipment, an energy recovery unit, improved distribution and temperature controls, the addition of a fire suppression system, the replacement of the fire alarm system, new ceiling, lighting, flooring, paint and the renovation of three classrooms. The total budget for this project will be $4.3 million. 

“The mechanical systems are 52 years old and past their service life,” said Karen Ingle, Associate Vice President for Facilities Planning. “The mechanical renovations are necessary for improved thermal comfort, energy efficiency, indoor air quality and code compliance.” 

An expansion will be added to the Simulation Center located in the CHS building downtown in 2021. It will accommodate the pressure on programs that require simulation for formative skill development and summative competency-based high stakes testing, which are embedded components within curriculum. The total budget for this project will be $5.5 million.

“The expanded and improved Simulation Center will be a key part of our Health Campus,” said Ed Aboufadel, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. “The design allows for a student to follow a patient through a continuum of care from in-patient hospital simulation, to out-patient doctor’s office simulation, to home health care and telemed simulation. This kind of practice is critical to the education of nursing and health sciences students.”

These changes are designed to be useful to the university because they will enhance student learning environments to be better and more equipped for the tasks that they need to complete within their studies. New computer labs with new equipment in Manitou Hall, as well as expansion to the Simulation Center will open up better experiences for GVSU students. 

The design process for these spaces took about six months to plan out and develop for the best results after renovations. The start of the Mackinac Hall and Manitou Hall projects will begin in May 2020 with completion in August 2020. The Simulation Center expansion will begin in May 2021 and be completed in August 2021.