Century-old Indiana University building revamped for future

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - If Chicago architects Norman Patton and Grant Miller could stand outside the main entrance of the library they designed for Indiana University today, it would look almost the same as when it was built in 1907. If they walked inside Franklin Hall, though, they would be stunned.

A monitor as long as a pontoon boat and taller than a basketball goal now hangs in the building's new commons area. A portion of the second floor has been removed as well as the roof, which has been replaced with glass that can be darkened when the sun is too bright. There is a control room and a studio that, in a few years, will allow student-produced halftime shows to be broadcast in Memorial Stadium.

This is not your great-grandfather's Franklin Hall. No, this Franklin Hall was designed with your grandchildren in mind.

The screen on that giant, high-definition monitor has magnetic panels that can be easily replaced with the next generation of image resolution technology. In the broadcasting studio, what looks like brick walls with the Indiana University logo painted on them are actually made from recycled egg cartons that can pop off when someone wants to give the place a new look.

"We don't want to be obsolete in a few years," said Tom Morrison, IU's vice president of capital planning and facilities.

Staying up to date is always a concern with technology, but when Franklin Hall officially becomes the new home of IU's Media School this fall, it will be state of the art.

Six different channels can be displayed at once on the NanoLumens monitor that is the centerpiece of the building's commons area. Using the Tunity app, students will be able to hear the sound from any of those six channels on their smartphones. But it's not just for TV. Lecturers can use it to display PowerPoint presentations, and game design students can connect it to an Xbox. Despite its huge size, the monitor runs on about the same amount of electricity needed to power six hairdryers.

"It's pretty spectacular," said Jay Kincaid, director of facilities and technology for the Media School.

It's also just one piece of equipment available for students. More than 3,600 pieces of equipment will be stored in the high-density shelving units of the equipment checkout room. Students who need a camera or a microphone will be able to reserve it online. Once they check out an item, they'll get alerts on their phone reminding them when it's time to return it.

In the control room, students will be able to use robotic cameras to film their peers. RoscoVIEW panels will be used to prevent overexposure from light coming through windows on the east wall of the studio.

"Our goal is for kids to put their hands on the same equipment the pros are using," Kincaid said.

Down the hall in a classroom University Information Technology Services helped design, students will be able use small monitors to work in groups. An instructor can then easily display the work of a group on a larger monitor for the entire class to see.

Twenty seats have already been installed in a screening room with digital and film projection capabilities. There will also be a DirecTV feed so students can watch everything from a live debate to the Super Bowl.

The 64-seat lecture hall will be digitally connected to the control room so presentations can be recorded, streamed and archived.

Downstairs there's a game design lab, a game testing area, a virtual reality room, a 40-seat Mac lab and several video editing rooms.

With so many spaces for students to work, Morrison said he expects the building on the western edge of campus to be a hub of activity. That's one of the goals of IU's master plan, which calls for returning the buildings in what's known as the Old Crescent neighborhood back to academic use instead of the administrative hub it's become over the years.

"We want that vibrancy in the core of campus," Morrison said.

That's one of the goals of the $21 million renovation of Franklin Hall. The other is to provide a home for the various units of the Media School, which was established July 1, 2014, by merging the School of Journalism with the telecommunications department and portions of the communications and culture department.

As with any major renovation, Morrison suspects there will be a few bugs to work out when students return in the fall, but he's excited for people to see the new home of one of IU's newest schools.

"It's a space far greater than anybody dreamed," he said.

Especially the building's original architects.

___

Source: The (Bloomington) Herald-Times, http://bit.ly/29nC2bp

___

Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com