Master Plan 2025 underway, three buildings completed

Some of OSU's most well-known buildings have received a face-lift and will be open for classes this week.
Historic Old Central, the Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture and the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory have all undergone renovations and were completed during the summer.
The renovation of Murray Hall should be completed around Sept. 15 because of delays with the fire alarm system, said Mike Buchert, OSU's director of long range facilities planning.
These projects were completed in two years and cost about $68.8 million.
All renovations and expansions are a part of OSU's Master Plan 2025, the plan responsible for North Classroom Building and the Multimodal Transportation Terminal.
With the renovations of the Historic Old Central, built in 1894, and Architecture Building, the developers wanted to keep the look and feel of the original buildings, while taking each into the modern age, said Robert Spurrier, director of the Honors College which will now be located in Old Central.
"That was one of the things we told everybody from day one," Spurrier said. "Take a picture now, that can be your before picture, it can also be your after picture."
On the outside, Old Central looks about the same, with a new paint job, a few replaced bricks and a new roof to replace the old, six-layered one. But on the inside, two different ages are displayed.
The president's room and a room for the former night watchman will be kept on display in the way they were in the 1800s. The computer lab contains an old sewing machine and an antique typewriter.
After reaching the top floor in a glass elevator, a medium-sized lecture hall can be seen. It will be used for combined honors courses, it houses an old pump organ and will soon house a square grand piano from the 1880s.
Buchert said his department made sure to keep the building's historic feel while still making it a safer place to study.
All along the halls, the building's original pipes line the ceilings, even though they are not being used.
The Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture received a face-lift as well.
Boldt Construction, Wallace engineering and Studio Architecture doubled the size of the building, which also housed the old gymnasium and armory.
The building has a modern look, having halls lined with bulletin boards and  new wide-open studio rooms.
Buchert explained that the light fixtures on the ceiling in one of the studios use what is called Daylight Harvesting. The lights have different levels and when the room gets brighter because of the sun, the lights will dim.
The word "Armory" is on the inside of the building now, with the original wall, illuminated by light fixtures in the floor.
"We tried to keep many of the old walls," Buchert said. "The inside is different than any other building on campus."
The building feels like an industrial plant as well, as with the grated metal stairs, exposed duct work and with help of workers in the background hurrying to make their finishing touches.
"For us, this (renovation) has been a need for a long time," said Randy Seitsinger, professor and head of the School of Architecture.
The next building to be completed is the Interdisciplinary Science Research Building, which was the home of the large crane for most of last year. The building, which costs more than all of the new renovations combined, is scheduled to be finished in the spring of 2010.