Missouri State is more than a year into a massive project to overhaul and expand the university's main building for teaching the natural and applied sciences.
The multiple-phase Blunt Hall project started in earnest last spring and a partial demolition of the existing structure took place last summer, when the foot traffic on campus typically slacks off.
Another major push is happening now with the new addition — using tons of recycled concrete and steel from the existing site — taking shape.
"We've been under construction for about a year now, almost 13 months, so things are going extremely well," said Mark Wheeler, university architect and director of planning, design and construction. "Summer is a good time to get work done on campus."
Wheeler described the project site as "extremely active" but fairly isolated.
"We did all the major demolition or disruption to the existing building last summer and through the winter break so there is less of that going on, which is a good thing," he said. "We do have some interruption to campus as a whole. We've had an electrical service shutdown and we'll have one more."
The sidewalk between Plaster Stadium and Blunt Hall is also closed through the end of July, at least.
"There is an existing stone retaining wall that is between those two buildings that we're removing that and we'll be putting back a new retaining wall," he said.
The $120 million project will include a renovation of the existing building, which was constructed in the early 1970s, as well as a new state-of-the-art addition. Formerly called Temple Hall, it was renamed for retired U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, who helped secure a significant chunk of the funding for the project.
In late May, there was a "top out party" as the final steel beam was installed at the top of the structure, signifying the frame of the addition was in place.
"Now work is really going to progress on the interior. We'll begin roofing, so that is a big milestone that we will have completed by the end of the summer," Wheeler said.
He said crews have started to install insulated metal wall panels on the exterior of the penthouse.
"By the time school starts, there'll be a significant difference in the look of the project from where it sits today or when students left in May," he said. "It'll start to look like a fully enclosed buildings."
The interior walls will be framed and sheetrock will be installed. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing work will also be taking place.
Asked about the impact of the heavy rains in May and early June, Wheeler said there were minor setbacks. Some of the temporary roofing was blown off, allowing water to enter the building.
"The contractor has been able to navigate that really well so it's just been a minor blip on the radar," he said.
Wheeler said architects are nearly done with the construction documents for the renovation.
"We'll actually start some demolition and some construction in the existing building this summer. That is a big change," he said. "We'll have some displacement of folks but it's fairly minimal."
To get all the renovations done, there will be temporary shifts in which offices and classrooms are available. It is the home for the College of Natural and Applied Sciences.
"As we move throughout the semester and on into next year, we will take different quadrants of that building offline and relocate folks and renovate and then move folks back in," he said. "The interior renovation is going to occur in about four or five stages."
More: MSU board approves $50M for projects to renovate Kemper Hall, Blunt Hall, Cheek Hall
The entire project is expected to be done in summer 2026, or two years from now.
"It can be really loud and noisy and pretty messy so we just have to make sure we're communicating at each phase what we're doing and when we're doing it," he said.
Wheeler said sensors in the building indicate if the construction or renovation work gets too loud. If so, he said that activity is rescheduled for early morning or evening, especially during the fall and spring. "In the summertime, the building is still occupied and there is still lab work going on but there are a lot less occupants so it's easier to do that type of work."
The project includes the renovation of Blunt Hall and the construction of a 66,500-square-foot addition. BNIM is the consultant and the general contractor is the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.
More: Photos: MSU's Roy Blunt Hall expansion groundbreaking
Recycling effort part of the project
In an effort to save money and reduce waste, Missouri State has recycled a significant amount of steel and concrete from the project.
The crews salvaged and reused 26 tons of metal.
"We had 393 tons of concrete that we removed from the existing building. That was sidewalks, that was slabs, that was what we ripped off. There was a little concourse in front of main lecture halls that was removed to allow for the new addition," Wheeler said.
The concrete was hauled to parking lot 18A, along Grand Street on the southern edge of campus, where crews used a rock crusher on-site.
"They removed the concrete, took it all to the crusher there and then we actually added it back to the job," Wheeler said. "It's currently under the building addition's foundation and they ground it up so zero amount of waste went to the landfill when we're talking about concrete and steel."
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: MSU's Blunt Hall project reusing tons of concrete, steel for addition
