MOUNT VERNON — Crews will start work on Sept. 9 to convert the basement of the former Mount Vernon News building into an academic hub for Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
“I’m really excited. I’m over the moon to actually be starting construction,” Knox County Land Bank Vice President Sam Filkins said. “This is a project that we’ve been working on for almost four years.
“So, I’m excited to finally be moving forward, and I hope that everyone in the community is really excited about it, too.”
The sidewalk on the south side of Vine Street between Gay Street and Blackberry Alley will close during construction, as will the sidewalk on Gay Street between Vine Street and The Terrace apartments.
Blackberry Alley will close temporarily when crews work on that side of the News building.
“We’re not going to block those businesses or anything down there,” Filkins said.
The project involves facade work and constructing the HW academic hub on the lower level.
The lower floor will serve as shared space for MVNU’s engineering and computer science programs. It is named in honor of former Ariel Corp. president Hunter N. Wright, who passed away in 2021.
Filkins said crews will remove the glass block to accommodate the new facade.
“Some folks are concerned about losing the glass block, but the glass block is not stable enough to save. It is bowing significantly to the point where if you lean against it, you might go into the alley,” Filkins said.
“The glass was all hidden behind drywall, so there was no way to know its condition,” he added.
Community support
Filkins said the downtown merchants group is “very supportive and very excited” about the project.
“I think one of the great things about this project is that it’s going to activate more space. Right now, Main Street is great, but these spaces on the side streets don’t have as much foot traffic,” he said.
“The parking lot on Gay Street seems farther away because you have to walk past an ugly building to get to it. This project will connect it to Main Street a little bit more. So, I think folks are excited about that.
“But also, a lot of people have been looking at this building for a long time and are excited for it to have some improvements,” he added.
CK Construction is the contractor; Sol Harris Day is the project architect.
The CK Construction contract is an at-risk contract, meaning the land bank has a guaranteed price, assuming no one requests a change order.
“CK bid it out to subs, and we’ve tried as much as possible to balance affordability with local subs so that we have as many local subs as we can afford to have on the project,” Filkins said.
Funding comes from various sources, including land bank funds and local grant dollars.
MVNU: A full partner
The Knox County Land Bank acquired the building in December 2020.
In 2023, MVNU announced it would turn the basement space into an academic hub for its engineering and computer science programs.
MVNU has been a full partner in the design process, choosing artwork, equipment, and colors. Additionally, faculty members helped design their classroom spaces.
“We’ve tried to involve all of the relevant parties of MVNU in the process, and they’ve been great partners. They have really good ideas; they know their use better than I will,” Filkins said.
“I’m excited. I believe that they are going to be very impressed with what they end up with because they were part of the planning.”
Filkins said supply chain problems might delay final completion.
“For example, we will have electric in the building, but we might not have the final switch gear installed,” he explained. “But it will be move-in ready. We’ll just come in later and swap out the temporary solution for the permanent solution. That’s just the nature of construction in today’s world.”
Filkins anticipates substantial completion by April 21, 2025, with final completion by June 2025.