This project will renovate a previous car dealership at 416 College St., a 40 year-old, approximately 7,000 SF building at the southeast corner of College and 4th Streets on the APSU campus. It will transform an existing showroom space, offices, and other amenities into a conference center for approximately 200 occupants. Spaces will include two large auditoriums and large vestibule with operable partitions, storage for chairs and tables, new restrooms, catering space; exterior seating adjacent to the building, and a canopy for vehicular drop off. Interior and exterior APSU branding should be prominent. The parking lot immediately to the north of the building is an elevated deck. The building is part of a larger complex considered one structure by fire code, and includes three separate buildings, and may pose a special challenge: William E. and Sadako Military Family Resource Center built in 1978 and renovated in 2020, approximately 5,400 SF (426 College St.). Below the Event Center and Newton are the previously used vehicular service bays and paint and body shop, which now serves a central stores and offices, approximately 38,600 SF, located at 101-107 Moore Alley. Access is gained to these spaces from the south side of the complex at the lower level. The floors are separated by a CIP and double-T possibly pre- or post-tensioned concrete deck with no conveyance between floors. The Event Center will not have direct access to the basement for this project. The building complex is not sprinkled. A structural engineer is in the process of conducting a thorough structural analysis of the existing floor to determine its bearing capacity, specifically a change-of-occupancy from a Business to an Assembly. Results of that study will be made available upon completion. Existing drawings exist, but their completeness is uncertain, and will be shared with the selected designer.
