Cohodas Lobby to be Renovated

The first-floor lobby and corridor of Cohodas Hall will be renovated next semester (as illustrated in the rendering at left). According to Brandon Sager (Engineering and Planning), the $150,000 project is designed to create a more inviting atmosphere for people entering the building. It will also enhance the new location of the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center.

“We will install new light fixtures and create a tiered ceiling that will replicate what’s in the heritage center,” he said. “The tile floor will be replaced by carpet, all of the brown block walls will be drywalled down to within three feet of the floor and we will dress up the finishes and perhaps replace the entry doors. It’s going to look a lot better. The bids will go out after the first of the year and the work will be completed sometime before June.”

Sager said these isolated improvements to the first floor do not signal the start of the full Cohodas Hall renovation. The $18 million project has not secured state funding. It consistently appears on Northern’s capital outlay request, which is submitted annually to the state, and ranks second among the university’s four “priority projects.” Topping the list is the biomass-fueled heat and power plant. The remaining priorities are: an academic facilities upgrade project involving Forest Roberts Theatre, the McClintock Building, Jamrich Hall and the Physical Education Instructional Facility (PEIF); and renovations and an addition to the Learning Resources Center.