McConnell is being updated and repurposed to house the Departments of Psychology and Sociology. The building program includes several classrooms of various sizes and types, a computer lab, research labs, faculty offices and an academic commons.

During its 40-plus year service as the WSBE, very little had changed in the building. As part of the repurposing of the building, all building mechanical and electrical systems needed to be replaced. Given a limited budget of $6,000,000, the 54,000 square foot project needed to reutilize as much of the original layout as possible, while enhancing life safety. With the exception of the first floor, where the new academic commons and psychology research labs will be, much of the original “bones” of the building remains, allowing for significant cost savings by keeping the renovations to less than 25% of the entire building footprint.