KCC’s Davidson Center upgrades almost done

This fall, Kellogg Community College students will have a revamped, technology-equipped space in which to express their love for photography, music and the arts.

The $6.6 million project to renovate the Davidson Center, which houses visual and performing arts programs, soon will be completed. The project was funded by a property tax levy renewed in 2012 by voters.

The building’s mechanical systems have been upgraded to make the art hub more energy-efficient and capable of supporting technology, KCC Institutional Facilities Manager Mark Olmstead said Wednesday. All of the classrooms have also been equipped with technology such as LCD projectors and smart desks, enabling students and teachers to complete tasks like displaying PowerPoint presentations without the help of mobile media carts.

That wasn’t the case before the renovations.

“When you go to a classroom for lecture and your teacher can pull up a PowerPoint or access the Internet or whatever, our general classrooms in this building could do that,” Arts and Communication Department Chair Barbara Sudeikis said. “But if they were taking a music appreciation class in the band room, unless we had a media cart that was brought in, they didn’t have access to that, so they were writing or handing out papers and things like that.”

The improved building will include two larger common areas, where students can meet and socialize, and the graphic design Mac lab.

Some of the bigger components of the renovations include the addition of a gallery that will display the work of students and local artists, Olmstead said. An outdoor space just outside the gallery has also received a makeover, getting pavers and pads for displaying sculpture.

Instead of holding tables with loose chairs, theater chairs with tablet arms have been installed in Davidson’s auditorium. The space, used for performances and lectures, also has a bigger stage because of the renovations.

A room behind the stage that used to be a photography studio will now be a place for performers and a storage area for instruments and uniforms.

Once-tiered floors in the choir and band rooms now have one-level flooring that will make them more friendly to those with physical limitations, Director of Vocal Music and Music Coordinator Gerald Blanchard said.

“In the choir room, which is the same as (the band) room, when I would do opera workshop rehearsals and I would do the staging and the blocking like you would do in a play, you’d have these steps so people had to be really careful going down the steps,” Blanchard said.

Instead of having scattered photography-focused classrooms, the building now houses a centralized photography wing with improved facilities, Photography and Multimedia Art Program Coordinator Ryan Flathau said.

“We want a strong community with our students and I think that us being in one wing together now -- all the facilities are together -- is going to help with that,” Flathau said.

Olmstead said the purpose of the Davidson renovations is to make the building “a better learning environment” for KCC’s arts and music students.

“Before we were getting the job done, but I think that we can do it more efficiently and bring more value to their education definitely by having a newer, more open, more comfortable, 21st century building.”

Contact Safiya Merchant at 269-966-0684 or smerchant@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SafiyaMerchant