Moving, stretching and growing were perfect metaphors for the grand opening of the $11.5 million Observatory Lodge renovation Thursday, as the Division of Kinesiology celebrated its new academic home.
.jpg) |
|---|
|
Guests tour the recently renovated Observatory Lodge, new academic home of the Division of Kinesiology. (Photos by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services)
|
.jpg) |
|
Above: Kinesiology student Rebecca Edgeworth, from left, joins Dean Beverly Ulrich and President Mary Sue Coleman in ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the Observatory Lodge, new home to the Division of Kinesiology. Two modern dancers, below, represent the metaphor movement as they entertain the crowd on stilts.
|
.jpg) |
During remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony, President Mary Sue Coleman said the former housing facility for faculty and staff that worked at the hospital had “good bones.”
“If any academic unit on campus understands the importance of community, good bones, stretching and growing, it is Kinesiology. Movement is essential for growth and momentum, and we are seeing both from the Division of Kinesiology,” Coleman said.
“We cannot officially open the doors of Observatory Lodge today without acknowledging the leadership of Dean Bev Ulrich. Her guidance and advocacy over the years have led to impressive gains in research funding, a growth in students and faculty, and critical donor support, including the division’s first-ever endowed chair.”
Architects Einhorn Yaffee Prescott worked to preserve Observatory Lodge’s integrity while upgrading facilities to meet the needs of the expanding program.
Originally a 30,600-square-foot five-level apartment building, Observatory Lodge hasn’t been occupied for almost a decade. The 1930 Tudor revival maintained its grand exterior, and the lobby’s historical elements also were restored and preserved. The rest of the interior was renovated for classrooms, labs and meeting space. Kinesiology netted about 18,000 square feet of classroom, office and research space in the move.
The Ann Arbor Historic District gave U-M its Rehabilitation Award for maintaining the building’s character. The commission cited the replacement of the non-original windows with multi-pane casements, more in keeping with the original structure, and efforts to retain the slate roof and restore the squirrel weather vane and the lobby.
The project costs were paid in part by capital outlay funding from the State of Michigan, with Division of Kinesiology resources and investment proceeds funding the remainder.
The new space, Ulrich told the audience, will ease the growing pains experienced by overcrowding, as enrollment and research in the division have increased. It will allow kinesiology to consolidate its activity within Observatory Lodge and two laboratory areas in the nearby Central Campus Recreation Building.
