After dealing with close quarters and inconsistent meeting places for several years, the UO’s American English Institute has finally moved to new offices and classrooms in the recently renovated Agate Hall.

The renovation of Agate Hall has been in the works for about a year and a half, according to Cheryl Ernst, executive director of the institute. The project cost around $4.2 million, with 47 percent of the funds coming from the university itself and the rest coming from the institute.

“Our faculty and staff  have been housed in three buildings for a number of years, as we are quite a large department,” Ernst said. “The sciences are moving back into Pacific Hall, and this was viewed as an opportunity to reunite the American English Institute family under one roof.”

The institute’s main offices were located in Pacific, which was cramped and shared with several science and language classrooms. The  staff was looking for a space that allowed them to connect better with the students and faculty they work with on a daily basis.

The institute serves about 300 students per term and has a large faculty and staff. With more than 160,000 “e-lums,” several international student groups and travel to dozens of countries for professional purposes every year, it has a large operation that just wasn’t flowing well in the Pacific Hall space.

Agate Hall has been completely refigured to accommodate the growing institute. What was once a local elementary school is now a building that boasts 10 classrooms, offices for student services and support staff for all three of the institute’s programs, faculty office space, a tutoring center, a library, private study rooms and common areas for students to meet. In total, about 75 percent of the building was renovated.

“Essentially, the project is an interior remodel that includes a relatively modest amount of reconfiguration of space to accommodate the program needs of the AEI,” said Gene Mowery, a planning associate at UO Campus Planning, Design and Construction. “Additionally there will be selective replacement or adjustment of heating, ventilation, electrical, plumbing and lighting systems throughout other areas of the building and generally a sprucing-up of the building interior finishes.”

According to Mowery, only a few hiccups surfaced in the renovation process, which started in June 2015. With every building remodel on campus, a few unplanned obstacles usually pop up. In this case, not all classrooms will be complete when the institute officially moves into the building, but they will be finished by the end of the month.

“It will be a joy to have everyone under one roof,” Ernst said. “Communication is a challenge when everyone is spread so far across campus. Having day-to-day conversations with the folks we only see once a month or even once a term will be an incredible opportunity for us. Our students will have access to everything thing they need under one roof.”

—By Nathaniel Brown, University Communications intern