EMU's Future Renovations and Developments

This blog is part of my Developments in the Harmony Heights Area series. Click here to see what other blogs I've written and what will be coming. 

Eastern Mennonite University has been a source of a lot of the development around the Harmony Heights area.  Here are the current projects they are working on:

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Dining Hall

Science Center

Track & Field

Baseball Field

 

Dining Hall

​EMU has used it's current dining facilities for the past 50 years.  As the pictures above show, they are working on an addition and renovations for the dining hall.  According to the EMU website, the plans for include:

• "Renovations that will provide a formal entrance and greeting space
• Renovated restrooms
• Heightened 16-foot ceilings in main dining hall to eliminate the basement-like feel
• Addition of an elevator to provide access to the residential part of the building
• Renovated serving area with attention to traffic flow and dinner services in a station type layout
• Renovated west dining room to a booth seating “pub-style” concept
• Addition of a new dining space with seating for up to 345 guests with flexibility for dividing the space
• Addition of a small meeting room with catering kitchen"​

 

Suter Science Center

Funding for the renovations for the Suter WEST campaign is almost complete. According to the website, $10.3 million has been raised out of the goal of $11.3 million.   Here is how the Suter WEST campaign page describes the renovation. 

"Both Lower and upper levels of Suter West must be updated to bring the center into full and productive service. This phase of the campaign will provide new labs to support a new engineering major; a refurbished D. Ralph Hostetter Museum of Natural History; renovation of S- 106 lecture hall in honor of President Loren and Pat Swartzendruber; updated HVAC and sprinkler systems; an expanded entrance to include a school bus pick-up and drop-off area; and refurbished classrooms with interactive projection technology."

 

Track and Field Facility Renovation

EMU's track is now 26 years old and is a big reason a lot of students come to EMU.  The university plans to renovate the track to be able to host college track meets and improve the condition for their athletes and the surrounding community. 

Watch the following video and get more information on the web page.

 

Baseball Field Renovation

EMU would like to renovate the Baseball field to be able to host college tournaments, high school tournaments, and local county leagues.  

From EMU's web page, the project will include:

Dugouts and Press Box
Construction of new, in-ground dugouts, 45-ft. in length, with an additional storage area on each one. An enclosed press box will be constructed on top of the first base dugout with capabilities for filming, as well as audio and video-streaming of games.

Backstop
An attractive and safety-enhancing backstop is planned that will feature a three-foot high brick wall connecting to the two dugouts with netting rising above the wall. This backstop will be closer to home plate and the netting will rise higher than the current fence backstop, increasing safety for spectators.

Spectator Seating
The naturally sloped area between Park Road and the backstop will be terraced and concrete pads will be installed for seating directly behind the backstop. Natural grass areas will be retained on the sides of the seating area.

Batting Pavilion
A pavilion with removable sides will be constructed in the right field bullpen area and will house batting cages and bullpens. This will provide a year-round training facility for the baseball program, greatly reducing the demands on the University Commons which currently houses one indoor batting cage.

Outfield Grass
With the 2015 addition of an in-ground irrigation system, the outfield can now be sprigged with Bermuda grass which will increase the playability of the surface and reduce maintenance.

All information came from EMU.edu and Braydon Hoover, Associate Director of Development at Eastern Mennonite University.  For questions, comments, or to help support one or more of these projects, contact Braydon Hoover.