By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer
The occasional sounds of drilling and hammering are familiar during class in Draper Academic Building.
A renovation project on the building began earlier this summer after approval from Baylor’s Board of Regents during its annual May meeting. Dr. Douglas Henry, dean of the Honors College, said via email that the renovation will focus on creating a home for faculty and staff of the four Honors College departments.
“First-floor space is being renovated to serve as a home for the Honors Program and University Scholars Program,” Henry said. “On both sides of the second floor’s long middle corridor, office suites for the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and Great Texts Program will take shape. Everyone also welcomes long overdue refurbishment of public restrooms on both floors and the elevator.”
Henry said the renovation will benefit the student body by creating a convenient location for them to receive support.
“Around 1,400 undergraduates pursuing over 90 different majors trace a path through one or more of our Honors College programs,” Henry said. “Consolidating [Honors College] faculty and staff in Draper, in space designed to facilitate high-quality teaching and mentoring, will help us better serve and support students. When the whole project is complete, the Honors College will have a true home at the heart of campus, one where students easily find, meet and benefit from their faculty and staff.”
Henry also said a more broad renovation was necessary because of the limited updating over the past few decades.
“Draper opened in 1976,” Henry said. “Limited piecemeal updates have been made in the past, but as the building approaches the 50-year mark, major improvements were needed.”
Morgan Hill, Calif., freshman and Baylor Interdisciplinary Core student Kathryn Huffman said Draper needed to be updated.
“Compared to other buildings such as the [Baylor Sciences Building] and Cashion, it’s very not up to date,” Huffman said. “I think renovating it will make it more accessible to students as a better learning environment.”
Huffman said the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core utilizes the building a lot, so it will benefit both students and faculty.
“About every three class periods, all the BIC students meet in the Draper lecture hall,” Huffman said. “All about 200 of us are in there at once with all of our teachers. I think it being updated will benefit us in the long run because we’ll have a nicer environment.”
Construction on Draper is scheduled for completion in summer 2024.
