Willis Sommer recently wrapped up oversight of three final projects as a Bluffton University vice president. Now he's taking on another campus project as a retiree.
Sommer retired as vice president of fiscal affairs on Aug. 31, but that didn't end his involvement with the university where he worked for 31 years, the first 15 as a business and accounting faculty member. His new role is chair of the Bluffton University Nature Preserve Committee, which will supervise "some needed upgrades and enhancements to trails and other features of the preserve," according to Bluffton President Dr. James M. Harder, who appointed the group.
"I see this as a win-win-win-win situation-for the improvement of one of the university's prized possessions; for all, including Willis, a close neighbor, who enjoy using the nature preserve; for Willis, so he can continue to do what he is so good at doing; and for me, so I can continue to interact with Willis," Harder said. Funding for the committee's initial activities is coming from a donor interested in environmental preservation, he added.
Sommer has left a legacy of managing campus facility improvements from his 16 years as a vice president, culminating this summer with renovations to three buildings.
Bluffton has invested about $2.2 million in improvements to College Hall and Musselman Library, and in the locker room area in Founders Hall. An elevator and new restrooms are among the upgrades to 110-year-old College Hall, where a 10-foot-long connector now joins a north-side addition with the original building.
The library is also gaining an elevator, with related landscaping, while in Founders, the locker room and equipment storage areas were gutted and replaced with new team locker and meeting rooms, equipment space, showers and restrooms. In addition, a classroom in Founders' Burcky Addition has become a training rehabilitation room.
"This was the right time to move forward with these projects," in part because the economy made construction costs more favorable, Sommer said. Bids for the projects came in below initial estimates, allowing more renovations to be made in the buildings than originally planned, he explained.
The general contractor for all the work has been Bellefontaine, Ohio-based Thomas & Marker Construction, which has done a number of building projects on the Bluffton campus. Also among the results of Thomas & Marker's work in College Hall is an upgraded second floor and stairway.
New heating and fire alarm systems have been installed in College Hall as well, and new fire sprinkler and heating/air conditioning systems were also part of the Founders Hall project.
Noting that 125 collegiate-style wooden lockers have been installed in Founders, Sommer said "this project is part of a larger coordinated plan for our indoor and outdoor athletic facilities. Recently, we have made a number of improvements to men's and women's outdoor facilities. Now we are working to improve indoor athletic facilities, and this is an important step forward."
A number of campus buildings have also been constructed or improved on Sommer's watch, including Yoder Recital Hall, Centennial Hall, Neufeld Hall and Marbeck Center.
The university, Harder said, is "truly grateful for all that Willis has done for Bluffton over the years, in so many ways, so well, and with such dedication and passion for Bluffton's mission."
