SCSU’s Eastman Hall Renovation Could Receive Bond Funding

ST. CLOUD -- Health services, counseling, and a recovery program could be moving into Eastman Hall at St. Cloud State University.

Governor Mark Dayton recently released a list of bonding projects, including funding to go toward renovating Eastman Hall. Governor Dayton proposed giving just under $19 million to St. Cloud State to renovate Eastman Hall.

The Dean of the School of Health and Human Services, Monica Devers says renovating the building will incorporate more hands on learning within the health services fields.

"So it supports the delivery of health care for all of our students on campus but it also I think from my perspective it expands and enhances our opportunities to support hands on experiential learning for all of the students in the school of health and human services."

Among the programs that would move into the renovated building are Student Health Services, Counseling and Psychological Services and UCHOOSE, a program that combats binge and underage drinking. The building would also house classrooms and clinical space for programs in the  School of Health and Human Services (SHHS), which offers 13 undergraduate-degree programs and 11 graduate-degree programs.

Devers says the foundation of the building is in good shape and much of the funding would go into making Eastman Hall a three level building.

"So what we're really going to be doing is renovating the 57,000 square feet of space, this is the last building a long the Mississippi River that we have on campus that we can renovate. And what we will be doing is taking the internal format of the building and expanding and actually adding a third floor into this building, currently there is two floors."

Eastman Hall is currently vacant. The building was built in 1929.