SAGINAW - Saginaw Valley State University is sponsoring a $16 million project to make Pioneer Hall bigger, better - and greener.

Construction manager Spence Brothers and the building trades are renovating existing space at the 30-year-old hall, and adding about 28,000 square feet on two stories on the south side of the building to accommodate the needs of the university's growing mechanical and electrical engineering programs.

The project began last spring and is expected to be complete next August. The building was cleared out to accommodate the renovation work, and students and teaching labs have relocated to another part of the campus.

"Everyone is excited about the new classrooms, as well as foundry, bio-fuels, engine dyno, and automotive performance labs that are being added to Pioneer Hall," said Robert Tuttle, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "When all is said and done, the inconvenience of the move will be more than worth it."

The first floor of the renovated Pioneer Hall will hold engineering laboratory space. Class rooms, faculty offices, the Dean's suite, and computer labs will be housed on the second floor.

Bob Saunders, project superintendent for Spence Brothers, said about 70 trades workers are on the job. "The project has gone well," he said. ""We've had tremendous contractors and very good trades people out here."

The renovated Pioneer Hall is being built with a number of earth-friendly features, which were highlighted recently by the Bay City Times since the building is the first in the Bay area to seek LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is a standard which offers varying levels of certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The building will include waterless urinals, a system that diverts rainwater to a nearby wetland area, the use of recycled aggregate in the building's concrete blocks, more use of task lighting instead of general lighting, and steel beams that have holes in them to save on the use of steel, among numerous other features.

Saunders said the LEED-related construction has added complexity to the job - but only because of the added paperwork that has been necessary. The impact of building green on the construction process has been minimal, he said.

More challenging, he said, has been to work in a major construction project "without impacting the college campus, which is functioning all around us."

A $16 MILLION project will add 28,000 square feet to Saginaw Valley State University's Pioneer hall.

PUTTING A TORCH to a hot water line at the expanded Pioneer Hall at Saginaw Valley State University is Charlie Cline of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 85.