Building on the Banks of the Red Cedar
Projects
For more than 20 years, Barton Malow has built the facilities where fans cheer, groundbreaking research is performed, and world-renowned art is appreciated on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
Barton Malow has an extensive history of iconic projects sprawling across the Michigan State University campus, and it all began in 2002 with the Spartan Stadium Expansion. The scope of this expansion and renovation to the stadium included adding offices and recruiting spaces, improving site circulation, and updating food and retail sales. Old box seating and the press area was demolished and an addition was constructed along with a new club level, press area, and suites over the west upper seating deck. The upper seating bowl was also extended, adding 1,000+ seats. Construction was completed in time for the 2005 football season.
The stadium expansion served as the gateway for many more projects, including the exemplary Eli + Edythe Broad Art Museum, Gilbert Pavilion Addition + Breslin Center Renovation, the groundbreaking Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), and the forthcoming Engineering + Digital Innovation Building set to break ground in 2025.
“The range of projects on campus allowed for our relationship to expand because MSU was able to work with different PMs, Superintendents, and Executives,” says Barton Malow Senior Vice President Sean Hollister, who has spent much of his career at Barton Malow on or overseeing Michigan State projects. “They were able to get more comfortable with us as a firm due to the successful completion of several big high-profile jobs with quite a bit of difficulty.”
Barton Malow strives to continue creating iconic projects that will elevate Michigan State University and enhance the experience of the students and faculty.
From Spartan Stadium to Munn Ice Arena
Recently, the MSU Construction Management program celebrated its 75th anniversary, a program Barton Malow remains involved with in terms of supporting curriculum and recruiting students for internships and open positions. In honor of this milestone, it created several award categories with the overarching theme of MSU alumni building iconic projects. Barton Malow was proud to win the Small Projects award for the Munn Ice Arena Phase II renovation project completed in September 2022. Bob Gallagher, a 2007 MSU Construction Management graduate, served as the Senior Project Manager on the job.
Michigan State hockey has a rich history that dates back more than 100 years to when it played its home games outdoors on the campus’ Red Cedar River. As Munn aged, various updates were performed over time to maintain the fan and student-athlete experience – but none as significant as the addition and renovation Barton Malow concluded before the 2022-23 college hockey season. The scope of this project included a 30,000 SF addition to the south side of the arena that contains all-new training, hydrotherapy, locker facilities, and offices for the MSU hockey players and staff.
Maintaining a Strong Partnership
The partnership between MSU and Barton Malow remains strong after more than 20 years of working together.
“The MSU team is fantastic from the standpoint of they do exactly what they say they’re going to do,” says Hollister. “Every time we have any level of conversation commitments, they hold their commitments, and that’s greatly appreciated in a client.”
Barton Malow looks forward to growing this partnership with Michigan State and appreciates the projects that helped our enterprise reach the tremendous achievement of 100 years in business.
