Nicholls will begin three major renovation projects over the next few years after members of the Louisiana Legislature allocated over $5 million to the university’s capital outlay proposal in House Bill 2 for work in Talbot Hall, Didier Field and Stopher Gymnasium.
The proposal stemmed from what Assistant Vice President for Facilities Mike Davis said were much-needed projects for The University, and with the help of Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, vice chairman of the budget-drafting Senate Finance Committee, the State approved their funding.
The largest amount allocated went to renovation and roof-replacement of Talbot Hall, a $5.9 million project that will need $4.4 million in state money. The remaining $1.5 million will come from private donors.
According to Davis, the Talbot Hall project is actually two projects in one, since the state no longer pays for roof-replacement through The Office of Facility Planning and Control.
“They had a roofing program that was responsible for maintaining roofs on all state buildings across the state,” he said. “When a roof got bad, they would come in and replace it, and it didn’t cost us anything. Well somebody at Facility Planning and Control decided that they could save money by doing away with this roofing program, and they bought it.”
The responsibility was then pushed to higher education, despite the large amounts of budget cuts over the years.
“So now I have to start putting roofs in my capital outlay requests, and I have to start planning when they are going to fail,” Davis said.
Davis explained that in the past, a 20-year warranty roof that normally lasts 25 to 30 years would be in service until it began to have problems. At that point, Facility Planning and Control would come in to either repair or replace the roof.
“I can’t do that anymore, so I’m going to have to start planning to replace a 20-year roof on year 15 because it will take several years to get the funding for it,” he said.
Of the three levels to Talbot Hall’s roof, two are still the original ones that were built in 1972. The other level was replaced after workers discovered leaks, and it is time to replace the rest of it, Davis said.
The rest of the renovations for Talbot Hall will be devoted to the interior, with the most focus being on renovating the Mary M. Danos Theater.
“Talbot Hall’s theater is the only theater we have for performing arts,” Davis said. “We knew the theater was going to have to be changed out because we had done very little renovations over the years.”
Renovations to Danos Theater include new lighting, a new sound system, new seats and more handicap accessibility. Renovations will also be done for the mass communication department’s classrooms, the television studio, and the KNSU radio station.
The funding for this project is in priority two and priority five, which Davis explained as meaning the projects are approved, but the money is not available yet.
“Priority two is the planning money for hiring architects to design the project,” he said. “The vast majority of the money is sitting in priority five, which is the construction money. Once money is moved to priority one, we can get moving.”
Once the private donors for the project reach their $1.5 million mark, the state should give the green light to begin the project.
“In my understanding, [the donors] are pretty close to reaching that $1.5 million mark,” Davis said. “It is definitely a needed thing. It will benefit the theater department, music and all the various people that use that facility. Everything will be enhanced, so it is a good project and a needed project for us. Talbot was build in 1972, so it is time for something to happen to it.”
The second Nicholls project in House Bill 2 is for renovations to Didier Field. The $500,000 project will tear down the existing press box and replace it with a larger one, along with a roof to go over the bleachers. $200,000 is in priority one, and the remaining $300,000 is in priority two.
Davis said that the new press box will be able to accommodate more press for larger games, and it will be wheelchair accessible.
“We are optimistic that we will get this money later in the year, and then we can proceed with the project,” he said.
The third project is a $530,000 renovation to Stopher Gymnasium that will update the coach’s office, create a new training room and allow locker room space for visiting teams. $330,000 will come from state money while the remaining $200,000 will come from private donors. The state money is in priority two, meaning it has been approved, but is not available yet.
“That building was built in 1967 as a P.E. facility where they allowed basketball to operate,” Davis said. “Since that time, we’ve added women’s basketball and volleyball. We are cramped for space, and we need some renovation work.
Davis said that there is no definite timeframe for these projects yet since the money is not yet available from the state, although they have all been approved.
“The culinary building moved fairly quickly because it was a high-priority item, and it was on the governor’s agenda,” he said. “I don’t know if these will be as big. You can kind of compare it to jets lining up to take off. The first ones in line get to take off first, so the others have to wait their turn.”