MLC facility updates under way

Utility tunnels,

music lab

updates in progress

By RACHEL WEDDIG

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Martin Luther College is undergoing $500,000 in improvement to its facilities this summer, and there more than $20 million in works in waiting.

The most visible project is the construction of the last utility tunnel that will run from Centennial Hall to Old Main. The construction of the tunnels has accelerated during the past six years, according to MLC President Theodore Olsen.

"We've put all our utilities into the tunnels," Olsen said. "Now if we need to work on the pipes, we can do that in a tunnel. It's easier than the direct bury lines. The pipes also last longer this way."

Also during the summer, Augustana Hall, the dormitory for sophomore and senior women, will receive all new windows, replacing those installed in initial construction in 1964. The new windows will be more energy efficient, Olsen said.

Another project is the addition of another lab in the music hall. The $200,000 lab is being built o facilitate new curriculum, and the current music lab is being remodeled.

John Nolte, MLC music professor, was involved in the design and selection of the software.

"The purpose of this project is to get up to speed with the latest computer and music technology," Nolte said. "The labs will be used for keyboarding instruction as well as music theory and singing instruction."

The music labs will have electronic keyboards that will be outfitted with a computer, and software for music notation, theory and training. The labs will also have a projector to show items from the computer screen and an "elmo," a piece of equipment that has a camera and allows what the camera views to be put on a screen for everyone to see.

Expected completion date for the labs is July 15. Nolte hopes to have all the equipment installed and working by the fall. In the future the college will offer a music technology class.

More than $20 million projects are on hold for the college. Last Thursday, the New Ulm Zoning Committee saw the future plans informally after its regular meeting.

Some of the $12.5 million dollar projects in the waiting include construction for a new chapel, a new energy center, adding parking, relocating athletic fields into a general location off Sunset Avenue, the addition of a communications media center and the remodeling of the cafeteria. MLC also hopes to build a new Student Activities Center that will cost between $10-$11 million dollars.

To increase off-campus housing for students, negotiations are in process between the college and the Sunset Apartment Board for MLC to purchase the complex. Olsen said the residence halls hold 850 students when filled to capacity, and the enrollment of the college is over 1,000.

Planning for these projects began in 1997 when a special committee was formed for the 150th anniversary of the Wisconsin Synod that addressed the future needs for the school. Now the college is waiting for the go-ahead from the synodical convention during the last weekend in July where delegates determine the funding for the college.

Olsen said he doesn't know what to expect from the convention. He said some possible scenarios may be receiving the full-funding immediately, or receiving the funding in different phases. But Olsen said the bottom line is MLC needs the funding for the students.