Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) is look­ing for­ward to newly ren­o­vated facil­i­ties as Ferris con­tin­ues with plans for the Old Federal Building in down­town Grand Rapids.

The plans went to the next level after approval by the state House and Senate for $10.6 mil­lion in tax cred­its for the project, leav­ing around $20 mil­lion to be raised.

Constructed in 1911 and home to the Grand Rapids Art Museum in recent years, the Old Federal Building needs repairs includ­ing a new roof, foun­da­tion repairs and updates to the mechan­i­cal systems.

Upon com­ple­tion of the ren­o­va­tions by the Christman Company, the build­ing will be used for class­rooms, admin­is­tra­tive offices, stu­dio and exhi­bi­tion space for KCAD, which has grown by 49 per­cent in five years to amass a stu­dent pop­u­la­tion of 1,385.

The city of Grand Rapids and the Christman Company will hold the deed for the build­ing for five years and Ferris will lease it until the five-year term has expired and full own­er­ship is handed over to the university.

The build­ing, located at 155 N. Davison Ave., will receive numer­ous updates includ­ing sus­tain­able design changes, said Ferris State University President David Eisler.

Architectural plans have not yet been final­ized, but efforts are still under­way. Marc Sheehan, uni­ver­sity spokesper­son, believes work could begin as early as next summer.