PHOTO BY SARA KONRAD BARANOWSKI/ IOWA FALLS TIMES-CITIZEN Iowa Valley Community College District Chancellor Kristie Fisher speaks about the planned Thompson Hall renovation plans during a meeting of the district’s board of directors at Ellsworth Community College on Wednesday.

IOWA FALLS — The renovation of Thompson Hall at Ellsworth Community College will be a “bare bones” project, designed to improve accessibility while keeping costs as low as possible to avoid pricing students out of one of the most affordable on-campus housing options.

At a meeting Wednesday afternoon in Iowa Falls, the Iowa Valley Community College District Board of Directors approved plans and specifications for the project, which is part of the district’s larger capital projects plan that’s being funded by $32 million in bonds that were approved by voters in 2019.

“This a far more bare bones approach than the new dorm,” Iowa Valley Chancellor Kristie Fisher said, referencing ECC’s new Lloyd Residence Hall, which is under construction now. “It was in the conversations early on . . . that this one has to stay affordable. This dorm is much lower cost for students who don’t want to spend as much.”

An early strategic plan of all the district’s bond projects put the cost of the Thompson Hall renovation at around $4.5 million. But Fisher said that estimate, like so many construction-related projects, has increased. It now sits at around $4.9 million.

“We’re adjusting things as we go so we’re still going to get all of the critical projects done, we’ll just get less miscellaneous projects done,” she said of the district’s plan for all bond-funded projects at ECC, Marshalltown Community College and Iowa Valley Grinnell.

The work at Thompson Hall will focus on the building’s mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems, as well as the restrooms. Jarrod Siegel, with OPN Architects, which is leading design of all IVCCD bond projects, said the renovations will address student comfort and modernize the building’s systems. The building currently has capacity for 204 beds, although it is not full. The renovations, which include some restroom expansions, will only reduce the capacity by four beds.

Thompson Hall, located on the west side of River Street in Iowa Falls, was damaged by an August 2019 fire that displaced 150 students for nearly a month. The fire started when a short in an electrical outlet in a storage room ignited a nearby pile of mattresses. In the aftermath of the fire, the school replaced all of the mattresses and ceiling tiles in the building, as well as many of the lights, carpet, and the interior was repainted. But those cosmetic fixes didn’t address all of Thompson Hall’s needs.

Fisher and Siegel said the bid documents for the renovations include several “alternates” that will give the board the ability to adjust the price of the project. For example, Fisher said, flooring is an alternate, which means that if the costs come in too high, the board can eliminate flooring replacement to decrease costs.

“You can, at a later time, go in and do flooring and do some of those finish things,” she told the board. “You can’t go back in – or it’s much more expensive – to go in and make sure you do the systems right.”

Today, Thompson Hall and Wall Hall offer the cheapest options for on-campus housing at ECC, with per semester costs of $1,949 for a double room and $2,596 for a single. The ECC college apartments cost $2,596 per semester, and the college suites are $2,813 per semester for a shared bedroom, or $3,353 for a single suite.

Siegel said the Thompson Hall renovations will begin in December this year. The Lloyd Residence Hall must be complete before work can begin. It’s expected to open to students this fall, freeing up enough space to empty Thompson Hall so work there can begin. When renovations to Thompson Hall are complete, students will move back in. Eventually, the district plans to demolish Wall Hall, which is located across River Street from Thompson Hall.

This will be the third major construction project for the ECC campus. Work on Lloyd Residence Hall began last summer, and a renovation to the college’s Health and Physical Education Building began last fall. Fisher said both companies that won those contracts – Steege Construction of Waverly for the residence hall and King Construction of Iowa Falls for the physical education building – have expressed interest in bidding on the Thompson Hall project. The bid opening is scheduled for May 12, and the board could award a contract at its June 8 meeting.