In recent years, Guilford has invested a considerable amount of time and money to upgrade campus facilities. Duke hall, the oldest actively used classroom building, underwent renovations in January 2004, while phase one of the Founders hall renovation was completed last fall. Now a new project is in the works and it will once again involve an academic building. King hall, built in 1949, is slated to undergo major overhaul at the beginning of next year. The last time Guilford made an addition to the building was in 1969 when the back section of King was built.

“The project will span the length of six months beginning in January and is expected to be finished on schedule in July,” said Jon Varnell, Director of Facilities and Campus Services.

Office space will be moved or expanded in King for personnel in Psychology, Leadership for Social Change (LSC), Multicultural Resource Center (MC), Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS), Conflict Resource Resolution Center (CRRC), Sociology/Anthropology (SOAN), and Justice and Policy Studies (JPS).

Economics is moving to the front half of King. The Art and Dance departments are both moving out of the King basement. Hildebrandt will be taken offline for housing in the summer and given to the Arts department for senior studio space and offices, while the dance floor will be temporarily relocated to the Dana Auditorium stage. “King hall is the geographic center of campus, said Adrienne Israel, Vice President for Academic Affairs. “With that being said, we would like King to be a good center for study. The Multicultural Resource Center will move out of Founders and into King, so we are moving in the right direction.” That is just one of the many changes involved with the project. The front of King will include more office space for faculty. All classrooms will have the same technological updates, making them more multimedia ready, which will allow faculty to not have to worry about picking a certain classroom based on technological options. King will also have the new computer lab in addition to the 15 new classrooms that are expected to be built on time.

With all of the new facilities, there are financial obligations. The total construction cost will add up to $1.7 million. This includes gutting, rebuilding, new furniture, and moving services.

“The cost of construction is skyrocketing,” said Varnell. “It has gone up approximately 25 to 30 percent over the past couple of years. Despite the money issue, however, I think that the improvement of King will be worth it in the end. The building will have more gathering spaces for the students, so they are very excited as well as the faculty members.”

This is a busy time for Guilford, since several new facilities are being built while existing ones receive much-needed upgrades. “It’s probably the most concentrated period of renovation and remodeling on campus in many years,” said Jerry Boothby, Vice President for Finance and Administration, in a press release. “The projects are all part of our regular schedule of construction and maintenance. We continue to make good progress toward our long-range goal of reducing deferred maintenance and enhancing buildings that most significantly impact our students’ academic and campus life experience.”