By Olivia Massucci · Staff Writer
Grove City College’s renovation of Smith Hall of Science and Technology won a 2025 Master Builder Association (MBA) Building Excellence Award for its revitalization of one of the oldest buildings on campus for modern STEM education.
The college shared the award, recognizing renovations of over $20 million, with contractor Landau Building Company of Allison Park, Pa. and architects Smith Group of Pittsburgh. The total cost of the renovation was approximately $48 million, funded entirely by donations and gifts to the college.
“It’s wonderful for the college to be recognized in this way. This was such a big project for us, bigger than anything we’ve done in a very, very long time, if ever,” Vice President for Advancement Jeff Prokovich said. “It was taking a building that hadn’t been renovated or kept up to date as much as other buildings on campus, transforming it and making it into a design that would be great for the next 50 years was a big deal, a big accomplishment.”
The renovation provides students with a state-of-the-art academic environment featuring advanced technology, improved lab safety systems and a variety of study spaces. Vice President for Operations Susan Grimm said the updated facility also helps prepare students for the future.
“We’re providing a state-of-the-art technology package so when somebody walks out of here, they have a better understanding of how to function in a business environment or graduate program,” Grimm said.
Prokovich added that the building serves the entire campus, not only STEM majors.
“We have design classes and design faculty teaching and working out of Smith Hall as well,” Prokovich said. “So, it’s broader than just the STEM majors that one would think of in a science building.”
The project aimed to keep the character and charm of the original science hall while transforming it into a building for the future.
“When you look at the quad that was designed by the Olmsted brothers back in the day, that science hall really was the centerpiece or the showplace of the entire campus,” said Prokovich.
Grimm added to that statement, addressing the historical significance of the building.
“I think the neat thing about the building, why it was important to us to renovate instead of replace it, is that it was built during the Depression. Part of the reason that we built Rockwell in the ‘30s was to keep the townspeople employed during the Depression,” Grimm said.
“It was important to us to make sure that during that renovation, we still spoke to the history of the building. So, though it was modernized, every finish was picked to maintain the heart of the building.”
Both Prokovich and Grimm stressed that the project would not have been possible without Grove City’s partners. Grimm highlighted the close personal bonds formed during the construction project.
“The successful completion of the Rockwell to Smith renovation was made possible through the trust, collaboration, respect and exceptional dedication shown by the entire team of architects, contractors and the college,” Grimm said. “There’s so much pride in this project because we had the most cohesive project team that I’ve ever worked with. We were so bonded together as a team. … We’re still friends, and we still do things together.”
Smith Hall was renamed from Rockwell following a lead gift to the project from alumni and technology entrepreneur William “Bill” Smith and his wife Dieva.
Although the Building Excellence Award brought meaningful outside recognition to the project, Grimm said the team’s pride in the project existed even before the honor.
“I think that that award really represented what we’ve done and what we wanted to achieve with the Rockwell to Smith renovation,” Grimm said. “The award was the icing on the cake. If we wouldn’t have won that, our team would be so proud of that building anyway.”
