UM Regents OK South Quad Design

Moving ahead on a project initially authorized at their Sept. 20, 2012 meeting, University of Michigan regents approved a schematic design for a major $60 million renovation of South Quad, a nine-story dormitory located at 600 E. Madison. The unanimous vote was taken at the board’s Feb. 21, 2013 meeting.

The project entails renovating 106,700 square feet of the building’s first two floors, and includes expanded student dining facilities, updated bathrooms, refurbished student lounges, music practice rooms, group study spaces, and infrastructure upgrades. South Quad, built in 1951, houses about 1,180 students as well as the university’s honors program.

SmithGroupJJR is the project’s architect, and a representative from the firm was on hand to give a brief presentation. The major change will be a dramatically expanded dining facility. When completed, it will serve as a central dining hall for other dormitories on central campus, including West Quad, Helen Newberry Residence and Betsy Barbour Residence.

According to a staff memo, the renovation is expected to provide an average of 131 on-site construction jobs, with work to be completed by the summer of 2014.

This brief was filed from the Anderson Room at the Michigan Union, where this month’s regents meeting was held.