New J-school construction ahead of schedule

By Jennifer Reed
J-School Web Reporter

photo by Tim Kupsick

Foreman Jack Leedy looks up the stairway toward the third floor of the new Journalism Building, Anderson Hall. The building is named for Don Anderson, who was instrumental in Lee Enterprises’s purchase of five Montana daily newspapers from the Anaconda Co. in 1959.

A year ago, the future home of the School of Journalism was just a hole in the ground. Now, Don Anderson Hall is ahead of schedule for its completion, Dean Jerry Brown said.

“[The contractors] anticipate the construction phase of the project to be complete February 15,” Brown said.

The building’s dedication will be held May 11, he said.

Contractors are working on the building’s masonry and roof. Sheet rocking for the inside of the building, ceilings, floors and air conditioning will come next, followed by landscaping. Progress on the building can be seen 24 hours a day through the webcam on this website.

Funding for the building, which will put print, photo and broadcast students under the same roof for the first time in 30 years, was achieved through $11 million in private monies, $500,000 from the state of Montana and $2 million from the University for the building itself and for equipment inside, Brown said.

“We are now at the stage of the deal with consultants who will help us draw up specifications for the broadcasting equipment, photo equipment, computers and servers and the digital photojournalism,” he said.

Brown said that some of the equipment being used in the current building, such as computers and desks, will be moved to the new building, but that an inventory has yet to be done on what will be moved.

He did say that the current J-school’s historic elements, such as the horseshoe table in room 211 and the Linotype machine, would be transferred to the new building.

But the broadcast department’s outdated equipment, he said, will not be moved. “It’ll probably be hauled to the dump.”

“We want it to be completely state of the art,” Brown said.

That, of course, means more fundraising. Brown said he hopes an additional $1.5 million will be enough. When asked how the school planned to come up with that money, he joked that he was going to auction off his students or have them run a car wash in winter, but finally admitted it wouldn’t be in any unusual fashion.

“We’ve raised more money from more donors than any other building on campus,” Brown said, adding that the school has received donations from tens to millions of dollars.

Journalism students will also be seeing an increase in fees to provide new equipment for the building. In September, ASUM approved a resolution supporting a fee increase of $1.25 per credit hour for all students, plus an additional $50 per semester for journalism and law students for construction across campus. According to ASUM President Andrea Helling, the Board of Regents approved the increase the last week in September at their meeting in Butte.

One thing that will not be coming to the new building, however, is the dean himself. Brown will be stepping down as dean at the end of this year.
Brown said that the decision to go for a new building was made before he was dean, and he devoted most of his time in that position to that project.

But, Brown said, not being the dean for the first year in the new building is “anything but” sad.

“The building was not built for me,” he said. “It was built for this school. I had no desire to build a new office for myself. I was a teacher and a writer before I was a dean.”

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