Glocker receives new look starting next year

Construction of the new Glocker Business Administration building should begin early next year, according to George Criss, director of facilities planning. 

The new $30 million, 6-story building will replace the current Glocker building which, according to Criss, is "functionally obsolete." 

"The existing building is more than 50 years old and has never been renovated," Criss said. He cited problems with the building's technological capabilities, classroom conditions and infrastructure. 

"It really isn't very useful for modern educational purposes," Criss said. 

Criss said plans for the new building should be complete this fall. 

The problems with the old building have "clearly affected enrollment in the Master's of Business Administration program," said Tom Ladd, associate dean for research and technology at the College of Business Administration. 

Ladd said a 2002 peer-review report by the business college's accrediting agency found Glocker's classrooms and infrastructure inadequate. 

Ladd said he is optimistic about what the new building will do for the College of Business Administration. 

"We expect the new building to increase the quality of applicants and the quality of graduates at both the undergraduate and MBA levels," Ladd said. 

The Volunteer Boulevard side of the old Glocker building will remain and become part of the new one, Ladd said. It will, however, be extended and have a new roof added. 

Criss and Ladd agreed that construction of the new Glocker building will take at least a few years. 

This fall semester will be the last semester in the old Glocker building, according to Ladd. 

After this fall semester, classes formerly held in the old Glocker building will move to various locations around campus, and faculty and administrators who are currently in Glocker will move to Temple and Aconda Courts. 

The construction activity will impact traffic on campus, Ladd and Criss agreed. 

"The specific plans for that are still being worked out, but a project of that magnitude will have some effect on pedestrian and vehicular traffic," Criss said. 

Ladd said one effect will be the reduction of Andy Holt Avenue to one lane during the construction. 

The state legislature allocated funds for construction of the new Glocker building in the last legislative session. 

Criss said that once plans for the new building are complete, they will go to the state fire marshal's office for review and then to construction contractors for bidding.