By An old building is set to receive a breath of fresh air as its renovations will provide a new hub for several organizations on campus.
Peterson Hall 2, located on Long Beach State’s upper campus, will serve a new purpose in spring 2019 as the home of the Student Success Center, after current renovations are complete.
The building had several classrooms replaced so that the center could have the facilities to host multiple campus resources.
The building will offer a learning assistance center and a shared workshop along with Disabled Student Services, according to the university’s first floor plans.
The second floor will feature a writer’s resource lab, a student lounge, the Women’s and Gender Equity Center and the Education Opportunity Program.
According to Mark Zakhour, director of Design and Construction Services, the foundation of the building will remain intact in an effort to reduce waste while the interior will undergo a total renovation. The project, which cost $44.9 million, has posed challenges Zakhour and his team, who have been working on the building since Sept. 23, 2017.
“It has been a tough project,” Zakhour said. “The building was built in 1955, so at every turn there has been a surprise. Things aren’t built straight. Things are built crooked. You open up a wall, something isn’t the way it was drawn up on the drawing, so we have had a fair share of challenges.”
Zakhour mentioned that some of these challenges pushed the construction back by nearly a month.
“By completely changing the way the building is laid out to be more modern, [the design] caused a lot of issues, and in the central area we basically broke open the entire rift structure and had to redo the entire stairs,” he said. “We had a lot of issues with the shafts and the stairs. At one point we were behind 22 days, but with working with the contractors and working on weekends, we made up for it.”
The renovations need to be complete by the Dec. 22 deadline before the university can move forward with the next step.
“We hope to have everyone moved in by January, so we can be ready at the start of the spring,” said Colleen Ryan, Academic Affairs Facilities specialist.
Zakhour added that some organizations could move in prior to Christmas and finish a majority of the move in process around Jan. 2.
