A buzz has surrounded the Ivan L. Boyd Center for Collaborative Science Education since construction crews took over the project in the spring.

The noise can be heard through talk of the building around the Baldwin City campus or by crews working on the building’s additions and renovations.

The Boyd Center, also known as Mulvane Hall, was originally planned to be completed by the time students returned to campus. However, setbacks occurred after crews discovered the floors on the second and third levels could not bare the weight of cement.

“They had to redesign the floors and then have them approved and all the engineering,” Professor of Biology Darcy Russell said. “That set us back about five weeks, which is why we are not done. The top floor was good and the bottom floor was on ground, but those middle two floors were a real problem.”

Construction and renovation of the building began from the top down, so the fourth floor was the only level to be completed before classes began.

“My one disappoint is that I was kind of hoping that we would be completely done before the students got here and we are not going to be,” Russell said. “We are probably still going to be working all the way through September, but it’s still happening.”

To help preserve the history of the Boyd Center, parts of the outside of the building were saved to line the walls of the interior and the original terrazzo staircase can still be found in the main front entrance.

Larger and more specialized labs add to the new features of the building, as well as student lounges and workspaces.

Junior biology major Chip Allen is excited to not only learn in the new facilities, but to share those experiences with his classmates.

“I’m super pumped to get in there and share a new Baker monument with a monumental class,” Allen said. “I absolutely love my class of biology students and after this really hard last semester where we didn’t have like a home, now we are going to have a castle and it’s going to be awesome.”

Allen said he will utilize the spaces the building has to offer and plans to make it a second home.

“I will be able to live in Mulvane in more of a literal sense than classes in the past,” Allen said. “I will be able to spend a lot more time in there. When people say ‘oh yeah, I practically live in that hall,’ well, we will be almost living in that hall.”

Dean of Students Cassy Bailey said she definitely believes the Boyd Center will benefit Baker’s students.

“I am so excited for our students who will be experiencing that building for the first time or for the 18th time,” Bailey said. “I think what a difference it will make to the educational environment.”