19
March
2018
|
13:00 PM
America/New_York

​Renovation at Pomerene Hall reaches final stages before moving begins

Moving day is not far off for the new tenants of Pomerene Hall on the campus of The Ohio State University.

A tour last week reveals that more than a year of construction has turned one of the classic buildings on campus into a modern monument to advanced teaching and learning. Through the clamor of nail guns, circular saws and drills, the renovations are reaching their final stages.

Pomerene is the future home of Ohio State’s Translational Data Analytics Institute, Undergraduate Data Analytics Major and the Department of History of Art. The $59M State Capital funded project is part of the restoration of the historic Mirror Lake District, which includes the renovation of Oxley Hall and Browning Amphitheatre.

The revived building will soon become a home again. History of Art faculty and staff are expected to move into Pomerene Hall by the end of May. Data Analytics members are expected to get the keys to their new offices in early June.

And those new spaces are impressive. One of the highlights of Pomerene Hall is the renovation to a former gymnasium that was part of the university’s women’s student union. While the basketball lines have been removed from the flooring, more than 90 percent of the original wood floor remains.

The massive two-story room will soon host state-of-the-art labs for building hardware, testing software, and conducting large-scale visualization analysis and data simulations. TDAI’s Ideation Zone will also feature a Social Café with a 10-foot bar top and flexible meeting space for workshops and team meetings.

The renovation of Pomerene Hall, built in 1922, has required extra care. The new addition is being built to replicate the features of the original building with significant attention to detail. Contractors have repaired or restored historic plaster ceilings, wood paneling, brick and limestone. Dozens of original wooden doors have been saved and refurbished.

But some modern touches will fill the building. An eye-catching, three-story glass atrium is almost complete. A large art mural will stretch from floor to ceiling and LED accent lighting will be embedded in the wood paneling.

The project aligns with Ohio State’s campus master plan, Framework 2.0, serving as a long-term guiding vision that imagines transformational research and learning environments over the next decade and beyond.