Workers are renovating portions of the Hardin Administration Building and plan to upgrade the Zona Luce Building in anticipation of moving the School of Nursing into Zona Luce.
Scot Colley, executive director of risk management and construction, said the renovations in the ad building are being made in the first floor of the southwest wing to house the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Science, which is moving from Zona Luce.
“It’s mostly a cosmetic clean-up,” Colley said. “We’re going to paint it, put in new carpet where we can, move a few walls, create an office suite and remodel some classrooms for them.”
Colley said the Department of Foreign Languages last year moved from the ad building to Chambers Hall when the English and Foreign Langauge departments were combined. This provided an opening for the ag department to move into the first floor offices when the renovations are completed.
“What we’ll do is move a few non-load-bearing walls, spruce it up, take two smaller classrooms to create a larger classroom for them and provide all their offices to move them over here,” Colley said.
The School of Nursing plans to take the place of the Ag department in Zona Luce.
This is all being done in anticipation of the pending changes in the nursing program.
The university for years has been part of the Patty Hank Shelton School of Nursing, an intercollegiate program with Hardin-Simmons and McMurry universities. That nursing program takes ACU students off campus for their last two years.
Dr. Becky Hammack, associate professor for the School of Nursing, said housing the new school on campus will allow the university to keep students here as well.
“We want them to be part of ACU,” she said. “We want them to have that ACU experience all four years rather than have two years, then leave.”
The School of Nursing, awaiting approval from the Texas Board of Nursing, will be housed in the Zona Luce Building to keep those students on campus all four years of their education. Hammack said the university expects to receive the board’s decision by January, just in time for the renovations in Zona Luce to begin.
Renovations in the admin building are expected to be completed by the end of December. While Colley said the exact timetable is still under discussion, renovations in Zona Luce are planned to start sometime after January and be complete by July of 2013.
