Studies reveal renovation options for Wiess

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by Kathleen Fisher

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Two architectural studies were recently conducted to assess and finalize plans for the renovations of Wiess College. Wiess is the last of the eight residential colleges to be remodeled.

The first study was done last summer and produced three feasible options for renovation. The second study, conducted this fall, explored the details of which parts of the building and its electrical and mechanical systems need attention and estimated costs for renovations.

A group of architects and engineers has been commissioned by Food and Housing to define the options available for renovation.

A second organization is the Wiess Renovation Committee, which consists of students and alumni headed by senior Christina LeTourneau, which will also examine the college's options and preferences.

Bob Truscott, residential colleges manager, said that the renovations will be more expensive and will require more time than any other college's renovations.

Dean Currie, vice president of Finance and Administration, said it would cost $5-6 million just to "patch up" the structural slab. He said this would be temporary, however, and would hold for four to five years.

A serious renovation would cost $10-12 million, whereas an entire rebuilding of Wiess could end up costing twice that amount.

"My number one priority is to get Wiess renovated," Truscott said. "It's the last building, and it needs the most attention. The ultimate goal of the renovation is to provide equal accommodations at Wiess as at any other college."

LeTourneau felt that students at Wiess were getting a worse deal than students living at other colleges.

"We're living in worse conditions, but we're paying the same amount of money," LeTourneau said.

According to Wiess senior Josh Warren, also a member of the Renovation Committee, the main problems at Wiess are caused by faulty construction in the foundation.

"The foundation sits on concrete piers. I think the piers aren't as deep as they would be if they were built today, and the beams aren't cross-connected. It's like a railroad track without any ties."

Of the three plans that the first study suggested, the first required minimal reconstruction, and the second would involve intense renovation that would guarantee a longer life-span for the building.

The final plan was to tear down Wiess and build an entirely new college.

According to Warren and LeTourneau, the majority of students at Wiess favor the second option, which would force many of its students to live off-campus for an estimated calendar year.

"I think [Wiess students] are attached to the building and its location," Warren said. He said there is a strong sense of community due to the architecture of the building.

"At places like Sid [Richardson College] and Jones [College], people divide by floors and location. It's harder to do that at Wiess because it doesn't naturally divide like that. There is a lot of visibility. You see people everyday."

No decision has been made about which plan will be chosen or about when construction will begin.

"At this point it's too early to say. We don't have all those answers," Marion Hicks, director of Food and Housing, said.

LeTourneau said, "They keep wavering back and forth about when they're going to do it, and they keep pushing back the date of possible construction."

Another issue that has surfaced due to the reconstruction of Wiess is security concerns.

"Rice's policy is to have two doors separating [the rooms] and the outside world," Warren said.

This, however, is not the case at Wiess, where all the rooms open directly to the outside, and at other colleges -- including Lovett College, Hanszen College and Baker College -- where a significant number of doors open to the outside.

The administration has considered this and has even suggested that a fence be built around Wiess, Warren said.

LeTourneau said this was unfair to Wiess since this has not been seriously considered for the other colleges and since the crime rate at Wiess is significantly lower than the crime rate of Jones or Brown College.

Wiess Master John Hutchinson said, "I'm extremely proud with the way the students have organized themselves, the way they have discussed the issues thoroughly and how they have worked with the administrative officials responsible for Wiess renovations.

"They have been analytical, thorough, objective and reasonable ... I would like to see Wiess College thoroughly renovated in its existing structure to preserve Wiess as a part of the Rice tradition. It's important that Wiess be viewed as an integral part of Rice University."

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