Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1952 [PAGE 743]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

840

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[July 25

February 15, 1951, the Board authorized further work on the third and fourth floors and made a supplementary assignment of $40,000 for this construction, including extensions of the necessary utilities. The Control Systems Laboratory, a classified research project of great importance to national security, has now been assigned all four floors of the building. The Electronic Digital Computer will be an integral part of the Control Systems Laboratory, occupying the second floor. Research in physics of the solid state will also be carried on in this building. A liquid nitrogen plant serving the entire University will be housed in the basement. These activities require a return to the original plans for the remodeling of the building which had been altered to reduce the cost. The nature of some of these experimental programs requires air conditioning of the second, third, and one-half of the fourth floor, and the installation of a freight elevator. Alteration of the basement area is also necessary to provide space for equipment. Additional work on the third and fourth floors is needed to provide suitable laboratories and offices. It is estimated that approximately $200,000 of additional funds will be required to complete the remodeling according to original plans and to provide adequate facilities for research projects to which the University is committed. As a result, the University will have an excellent research building which will be available for research in several areas of physics and engineering. The Provost, acting in the absence of the President, recommends that this additional construction be authorized. The Physical Plant Department estimates that the program of remodeling heretofore authorized can be completed, with the exception of changes from incandescent to fluorescent lighting to conserve power, by September I, 1951. The additional construction now recommended can be substantially completed by January 1, 1952, with the exceptions that the basement area and the first and second floors will be without ventilation and that the air conditioning will not be in operation because of the lack of power and fan coils. To meet these deadlines, immediate authorization of the additional construction work and installations is indicated. Utilization of approximately $100,000 of government funds for the purchase of equipment and, in fact, retention of the Control Systems Laboratory at the University of Illinois are major considerations. Accordingly, the Provost, with the advice of the Physical Plant Department, recommends that (a) Authority be given to negotiate with the present contractors for change orders for the removal of existing ventilating ducts on the second floor and the installation of other ducts in order to provide for the air conditioning of this floor. (b) Authority be given to negotiate with the present contractors for the completion of all additional construction except for the installation of an elevator on which competitive bids will be taken. (c) Authority be given to purchase critical materials and_to execute construction change orders on an emergency basis. On motion of Mrs. Watkins, the Executive Committee ( a ) Authorized the additional construction and remodeling. ( b ) Authorized the Comptroller and the Director of the Physical Plant to negotiate with the present contractors for the additional construction and remodeling work. ( c ) Authorized the President of the University to approve purchases of critical materials and equipment and the execution of construction change orders. ( d ) Authorized the securing of competitive bids on the installation of a freight elevator. ( e ) Made an appropriation of $200,000 of which $100,000 is to be assigned from the state appropriation for 1951-1953 "For remodeling, modernization, and improvement of existing buildings at Urbana-