Renovations of some of the
oldest buildings and five new classrooms on main
campus have been slated.
SARA ROSNER
Staff Writer
Does beauty come with age? Pepperdine may not think so. The university is considering giving the 33-year-old campus a major facelift that would include renovation and construction on the Seaver campus and the creation of a new athletics facility.
On the Seaver campus, the floor plans of the Appleby Center (AC) and the Rockwell Academic Center (RAC) would be completely re-organized. Science laboratories located at the AC would be moved downstairs to the RAC with the rest of the Natural Science Division. The AC also would be remodeled to accommodate several classrooms on one side of the building, while offices of the Social Science Division would occupy another side.
Associate Dean of Seaver College Rick Marrs has been acting as a liaison between faculty and the administration in the construction process and said the current configuration was inefficient.
“The (AC/RAC) is one of the original buildings on campus that doesn’t really fit the needs of the two divisions that use it the most,” Marrs said.
To avoid disrupting or moving classes during a semester, construction on the AC and RAC would take place during the summer. Marrs estimated that the project may take about 12 weeks to complete and could begin as early as this summer.
There are also plans to renovate Elkins Auditorium and to build five classrooms into the embankment that separates Elkins from the Smothers parking lot. Business professor Jere Yates has been involved in fundraising for some of the construction projects and said 50 seats and state-of-the-art technology may be added to the auditorium.
Only the roof of the proposed classrooms would be visible from the Smothers parking lot, and a walkway that would lead to the AC and the Weisman Museum would separate the classrooms from Elkins. Some professors are concerned that the classrooms, which would be able to seat up to 60 students, are an indication that Pepperdine’s student-to-instructor ratio may be on the rise.
“The fear is that there may be a push,” Yates said of the faculty’s apprehension. However, Yates also said the purpose of the classrooms was probably not exemplary of a future increase of the ratio.
“I don’t think there’s an intentional effort on the part of the administration to make that change, but we may slide towards that,” Yates said.
Marrs said the plans for larger classrooms were only proposals.
“It’s not concrete,” Marrs said. “There will be discussions, and it
hasn’t been finalized.”
The completion of the classrooms and the Elkins renovation has not been set because the university has not yet found a space to hold the lecture classes usually reserved for the auditorium.
“It’s like renovating a house,” Marrs said. “Where would you put all the tenants?”
The university has hired a consultant who has already devised the reconfigurations for the AC, RAC and Elkins and planned the construction of the proposed classrooms. The consultant is evaluating the entire campus.
“They’re doing a space analysis, looking at all the academic space at Seaver to make it as efficient as possible,” Marrs said.
Pepperdine also is beginning to fund-raise to construct a new sports arena. The arena would replace the Rho parking lot and may possibly include two levels of underground parking. The existing athletic facility, Firestone Fieldhouse, would be renovated and enlarged to include three different gyms, including an expanded fitness center with ocean views. Pepperdine also is considering a juice bar and climbing wall for the renovated Fieldhouse.
In light of the growing parking problem, Yates also said there has been talk of lifting the track and soccer fields to accommodate two more levels of underground parking. However, most of the concepts for renovating or constructing athletic facilities are still in the initial stages and no final dates for construction commencement or project completion have been set.
11-01-2005