The president has a new view of campus.
Several administrative offices are relocating this week from Rudder Tower to the Jack K. Williams Administration Building, which has been a campus landmark since 1932.
Matt Fry, chief of staff for the Office of the President, said the initiative to relocate arose in November 2010, when former A&M President R. Bowen Loftin expressed an interest in moving his administrative leaders and their offices into the building.
“He asked me to look into what we would need to do to make a move into the building,” Fry said. “He had a great affinity for its history and felt that his leaders should be located there.”
For the last two years, the Administration Building has been undergoing renovations prior to the relocation of the provost offices.
“The initiative to relocate the provost offices granted an opportunity to revitalize the building,” Fry said. The last two years have been dedicated to going into working on the aesthetics of the interior of the building, like painting walls and putting in new floors.”
Fry said the historical aspect of the building has been carefully kept intact.
“The historical significance and beauty of the building has not been touched,” Fry said. “If anything, it has been enhanced with the renovations.”
Fry said he hopes the change will bring more people through the building.
“We’re all so excited for these beautiful and historical effects to be recognized by students as well as administrators,” Fry said.
The relocation began Aug. 15 and is scheduled to be complete by mid-September.
Shane Hinckley, vice president for marketing and communications, said the relocation has gone smoothly.
“The move has really gone better than expected,” Hinckley said. “I think I speak for everyone when I say we are enjoying having the offices we’ve been given.”
John Junkins, Founding Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, said the relocation from the center of campus to the edge may at first pose issues of access, but he is confident it can be worked around.
“Earl Rudder lived there and he seemed to do just fine,” Junkins said.