To provide properly-equipped lab, instructional and support research space for continued growth of Kent State’s College of Public Health and to consolidate, the north wing of Moulton Hall will be renovated.

“Their program has been growing, (and) they are in need of instructional lab space, research labs space and additional office space,” said Michael Bruder, executive director of facilities, planning and design.

Since its founding in 2009, the College of Public Health has grown. It now needs additional space to accommodate students.

“We started (a) new college … and now we have (about) 650 undergraduates. As we have grown, we have not been able to be in one place,” said Sonia Alemagno, dean of College of Public Health.

In 2015, the College of Public Health received its first accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health.

“It was important to improve their facilities for the long-term accreditation of (the) program,” Bruder said.

The scope of work includes painting and installing carpet in the Dean’s suite on the first floor, new instructional labs and associated support space on the second floor, and implementing a new research lab, Biological Safety Level 3 laboratory and associated support space on the third floor.

Ken Slenkovich, assistant dean for the College of Public Health, said the dedicated labs are important for the College of Public Health.

“We have classes that require laboratory in environmental health classes, (and now) we don’t have our own teaching labs,” Slenkovich said. “That (renovation) is going to help our lab-based environmental health courses.”

Alemagno and Slenkvoich both said they believe Moulton Hall will make for a better place for College of Public Health students.

“We hope the open space on the first floor of Moulton Hall can make our students gather and interact with each other … it makes students feel like they have a home building to go to,” Alemagno said.

Renovations are projected to start in early spring and finish before fall 2017.

“Moulton will become a place our student(s) can say: ‘This is our college,’” Slenkvoich said.

Tianyu Yang is the grounds and construction reporter, contact him at [email protected].