Houstonian: First floor of Education Center to be renovated

From the Houstonian:

The Teacher Education Center [TEC] of Sam Houston State University is planning on renovating the first floor by next year.

"We are very excited about it," said Dr. Mary Robbins, who is the chair of the Language, Literary and Special Populations Program.

According to the article in Today@Sam, "a preliminary plan for [the] $1 million renovation of the TEC was approved Friday by SHSU's board of regents."

Robbins feels "fortunate to have the university's support" and help in obtaining the money for the buildings renovation. According to Robbins, the TEC building was designed in the 1970s for programs that are no longer in existence. Two of the earlier programs, (Early Childhood Lab School and Young Childhood Special Education Lab School), are no longer offered at SHSU.

The renovation is estimated to begin sometime this spring, and should be finished before the end of summer. All of the work will be done indoors, so the construction team will not have to worry about facing obstacles such as bad weather.

The plans include adding five additional classroom spaces on the first floor. The first floor will be designed to get as much natural lighting as possible. "You feel like you are walking into a dungeon when you walk onto the 1st floor," said Robbins. She explains that half of the floor is underground. "It will be nice to have light," states Robbins. She confirms that the light setting on the 1st floor will also be updated.