Daily Pioneer News

Classes resumed in Ullrich Hall Tuesday, Jan. 18. The building, the oldest on the UW-Platteville campus, has been remodeled as the home of the UWP Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

PLATTEVILLE - The renovation of historic Ullrich Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus is nearing completion as classes in the new home of the UWP Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering resumed Tuesday, Jan. 18.

The oldest building on campus, Ullrich Hall has been updated for the 21st century with high-tech classrooms and state-of-the-art computer laboratories for computer science, software engineering and business classes.

"I think the first thing is we got new technologies here, modern technologies here... computer science is changing everyday. I think it will enhance the education for students, and it will be good for the faculty too," said Mohan Gill, chair of the computer science and software engineering department.

The $6.9 million renovation project began in November 2003 and is nearly complete, although crews will continue to work on some aspects of the interior even as classes resume. The department's nine faculty members moved into their offices the week of Jan. 10, and are in one building for the first time since the computer science and software engineering programs merged in 2002.

"They are excited. I'm telling them, 'be a little patient the first week.' Things will take a little time," Gill said. "I think everyone is excited about it. We have been waiting for this for a long, long time."

A number of Ullrich Hall's seven classroom and four computer laboratories will also be used for business administration classes. For the approximately 230 students who study computer science and software engineering, the building will be a home, replete with a student lounge area and 24-hour-access computer labs.

UW-Platteville's newly renovated Ullrich Hall features a number of high-tech classrooms and state-of-the-art computer laboratories.

"Students will be introduced to the newest technologies," said Richard Shultz, dean of the UWP College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science.

"This will create for them a home where the offices, classrooms and laboratories will all be in one building. It will create an environment that is much more supportive of learning for students in those programs."

Ullrich Hall originally opened as the agriculture and manual arts building in fall 1917 at what was then the Wisconsin Mining School, said university archivist James Hibbard. At that time, the building included a forge room for making horseshoes and other metalwork, a carpentry room, a washroom, a soils lab, several classrooms and even the school's gymnasium. The building underwent modifications in the 1960s, and in 1966 was renamed Ullrich Hall in honor of former agriculture school director Fred Ullrich. The UWP School of Agriculture is currently housed in Russell Hall.

Featuring classical revivalist architecture, Ullrich Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. With the 2003-2005 renovation, university officials faced a challenge in updating the building with the most modern technologies while keeping the historical integrity of the building's exterior intact. The contracted architects, River Architects, La Crosse, had experience with historic preservation. Period windows were custom made by Eagle Windows and Door Co., Dubuque, Iowa.

"The windows went back to the original window style, instead of the aluminum windows that were in here before, so actually we have an enhanced exterior," said Jim Valaskey, director, UWP Facilities Management.

With an addition on the building's north side, the $6.9 million renovation increased Ullrich Hall's size slightly to 33,700 gross square feet, 24,000 adjusted square feet.

"Everything went smoothly, no major problems," Valaskey said Jan. 12. "We're just really excited about this. It's really a nice building. The faculty who have been in so far have been pretty excited about what they've seen."

Contact: Jim Valaskey, director, UWP Facilities Management, 608-342-1177, valaskey@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Dan Lehnherr, UWP Public Relations, 608-342-1194, lehnherd@uwplatt.edu