Ahead of Auburn University President Steven Leath's installation as the 19th University president, renovations to the president's mansion were recently completed in February. Extensive updates were made to the private residence, and a new event center was constructed on the property.
The event center incorporates approximately 85 percent of a 27,000-square-foot project, which included renovating the previous president’s home into office, meeting and event space and the construction of new living quarters for future presidents including Leath.
The original president’s home was built in 1938 and had been used more than 160 days of the year for a variety of activities, from University functions to development activities with private supporters, businesses and industry partners, said Associate Vice President for Facilities Dan King.
“The Auburn Board of Trustees, seeing potential for greater use in the next 50 to 60 years, in 2015 initiated the event center project,” King said. “That included renovating the previous president’s home into university office, meeting and event spaces and the construction of a new event space, living quarters and garage for future presidents, as well as a commercial kitchen to support events in the complex.”
King said the focus of the president’s house is no longer to be solely the personal residence of the president. Instead, the mission of the expanded complex is to support official University development, business and social functions.
“The previous facility was used extensively as part of the just completed 'Because This Is Auburn — A Campaign for Auburn University' that concluded Dec. 31,” King said. “This helped the University reach its campaign goal 16 months ahead of schedule. The new event center is expected to play an even larger role in Auburn’s ongoing fundraising efforts and in its next comprehensive fundraising campaign.”
King said mainly meetings and functions with partners in business, industry and government as well as campus events involving students, faculty and staff, will be held at the house.
The new 2,650-square-foot event venue was created to provide flexibility in terms of the size and formality of official events. Constructed of brick, glass and architectural steel, the venue is a great addition to the president’s home and will further the University’s ability to host those special functions, King said.
The living quarters for the president at his home were also updated. King said it was no longer suitable for future presidents and their families, which became clear in recent years.
“The public nature of most of the home, coupled with the lack of quality private space and the deteriorated nature of the 80-year-old home necessitated a significant change,” King said. “The Board of Trustees was very clear that they wanted the University president to live on campus. As a result, the decision was made to renovate the existing home into public University space and to add a new, modern living quarters for the president and the first family.”
Extensive repairs to wiring, plumbing and architectural systems including walls and windows to eliminate long-standing water infiltration problems were necessary to bring the previous president’s home living quarters to an Auburn standard of excellence, King said.
“A new living quarters was constructed consisting of a two-story, three-bedroom, four-bathroom home,” King said. “The project also included the replacement of the existing carport and laundry/storage room 'cottage' with a three-car garage.”
Because of the extensive repairs and additions, the project was extended to February. It was initially scheduled to be completed in December 2017, King said.
That unexpected, extensive repair work included the replacement of most of the external bricks of the original facility and major repairs to underground utility systems. As well as the addition of a commercial kitchen to accommodate those large-scale events in the event center and a garage to replace the carport, King said.
The final cost of the updates to the president’s home and creation of the event center was $16.9 million. Events and activities are already scheduled to take place in the new facility.
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