Extreme Makeover: Hamblin Edition!

Put together a Knox College residence in line for expansion and renovation, a growing student enrollment, several dedicated contractors, and a highly compressed construction schedule... and what do you get? The answer is -- "Extreme Makeover: Hamblin Edition!"

Just like its TV cousin, this "makeover" project featured a race against time and a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who had just over two months to totally rebuild an entire apartment-style residence hall for more than 100 students.

The $6.2-million project that normally would have taken six to nine months was completed in ten weeks, said Scott Maust, director of facilities services for Knox.

Work began June 4, one day after students moved out last spring, and was completed August 24, one day before students began moving in for this fall's classes, which start on September 4.

"I was shocked -- I didn't think it was going to be this nice, said Sarah Janicik, a senior from Clarendon Hills, Illinois, one of the first students to move into the building on August 25. Photo, below: a typical renovated living room and kitchen.

The expansion boosted Hamblin's capacity by almost 50% -- adding new apartments for 29 students to the existing units that housed 72 students, yielding a new total of 101. All of the existing units were refurbished, including entirely new kitchens and baths. The project also added an elevator, sprinkler system, three student lounges, and new covered entries front and rear.

"When we picked our rooms last spring, we could see the floor design, but we never thought it would be this big," Janicik said of the four-bedroom, two-bath apartment she shares with three other students. Even though Janicik's room is on the lower level, "you don't feel like you're cramped. All the rooms down here are very open."

The general contractor, P.J. Hoerr, Inc., and more than a dozen sub-contractors, worked almost around the clock. "We had about 90 people during the day, and at night we had another 20," said Rob Mullens, project superintendent for Hoerr.

The project has raised both the quality and the variety in Knox's residential options, according to Craig Southern, associate dean of students for campus life and director of residential learning. "Knox is making a good place even better," said student Maurice Harris, as the project was beginning last spring. A senior from St. Louis, Missouri, Harris served on an informal committee of students and administrators that examined campus housing.

The project also added three handicapped-accessible apartments, increasing the total to 15 accessible units on campus. Knox expects to enroll more than 1,200 students this fall, with an estimated 1,178 living on campus. Knox has some 30 student residences, including suites, apartments, townhouses and ?theme? houses. Most Knox campus housing is assigned through a lottery system that gives priority to upperclass students.

Originally an apartment built in 1968, Hamblin Hall was acquired by Knox and converted to a student residence in 1988. Located at 251 W. South Street, Hamblin Hall is across from the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center. It is named after Adolph "Ziggy" Hamblin, a 1920 Knox graduate who had a distinguished 40-year career -- including professor and director of the biology program, and coach of two championship football teams -- at West Virginia State University.

Above, completed exterior; below, landscaping includes a spray-on lawn (a green-tinted mixture of mulch and grass seed)