Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 28, 1993 TAG: 9310280362
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-13 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By GREG HALE Special to the Roanoke Times & World-News
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
She began looking for student opportunities to create real-world projects in 1989. It was then that one of her student's designs was chosen for the new Montgomery County Shelter.
This year, McLain-Kark contacted the town officials of Pearisburg who were considering renovations to the Town Hall-Municipal Building.
``This kind of project gives back to the community and the students get a chance to work on a real project with real problems,'' McLain-Kark said.
Twenty students worked on designing and furnishing a new Police Department to be located in the old library space of the town hall building.
Pearisburg Town Manager Ken Vittum told students to keep to a limited budget, and to eliminate as few walls as possible.
Another necessity was handicap-accessible bathrooms while enforcing all building codes. The original asbestos floor of the library was constructed in 1965, making floor removal part of the project.
Students were presented with a project sheet that required them to design a private office for the chief and a semiprivate office for the sergeant.
An interrogation room and evidence locker as well as a conference room and lobby were part of the plan. Several other offices and storage spaces comprise the design.
``This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to have a real project to show in their portfolio,'' McLain-Kark said.
Students put an average of 30 hours into their designs. It was the first time they had used computers as a tool for designing.
Students have shown a genuine interest in the project and the people who will eventually work in the building, McLain-Kark said.
``We actually get to talk with the people that the building is being renovated for and we work with tangible measurements,'' said Scott Mooney, a junior interior design student working on the project.
``We actually get to see work done on the actual job site and work with a real budget,'' said junior Soung Lee.
The Pearisburg Town Council will hire an architect soon to further the renovation process, but McLain-Kark's students already have saved the town considerable time and money with their class project, Vittum said.
The Pearisburg Town Council may not choose any of the ideas presented by McLain-Kark's class, but town officials may combine the best idea with others presented, Vittum said.
``We may hire the student whose design works the best and comes closest to what we want by giving that student a chance to help on the actual renovation,'' he said.
``We didn't know what to expect going in, but we have been really pleased with the products that the class has presented,'' he added.
The renovation is scheduled for completion by the spring of 1994, Vittum said.
Past projects by McLain-Kark's classes include a proposal for the renovation of the Blacksburg Post Office in 1991 and a similar proposal to Virginia Tech administration for Newman Library last year.
by CNB