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EcoTrack 11: UT's Memorial Field House undergoes transformation

In the past, the Memorial Field House has hosted concerts by Jimi Hendrix and Simon and Garfunkel. It's UT's first leed certified building.
Vice President of Facilities and Construction Chuck Lehnert
Reported by Jennifer Boresz - bio | email

Posted by Nick Dutton - email

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTOL) - From the outside the University of Toledo's Memorial Field House looks pretty much the same, but on the inside it looks radically different.

Hundreds of local crews are working to finish this $27 million dollar project that has created 54 classrooms, faculty offices and an atrium.

"Our challenges were to renovate, have a very modern interior space that the kids could really appreciate today in the year 2008, in a building that was built in 1931," says Vice President of Facilities and Construction Chuck Lehnert.

It fills the university's need for additional classrooms and is also UT's first green, leed certified building.

One way to achieve that standard is to reduce and recycle so they have been throwing waste into these labeled dumpsters.

"We also took a lot of the precast concrete out of here that held the original bleachers for the basketball arena and those went out to Owen's Community College for their disaster city," says Lehnert.

The renovation also includes the use of energy efficient heating and cooling. There's also plenty of natural light from a glass dome, to help cut back on electricity.

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