In 1958 a new, fireproof biology building was named Hesler Biology Building for longtime head of the Botany Department Lexemuel Ray Hesler, who also served as dean of liberal arts. The building had already been designed by Barber and McMurry when Morrill Hall burned in January 1934, and bids were immediately sought for its construction. The building was funded in part by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (PWA) and was ready for occupancy in 1935. Worsham Brothers was the contractor. The cost of the facility was $267,400, and the construction contract required completion in 165 days.
In 1962 the National Science Foundation made a grant to UT for $425,400, partially to fund the planned addition of research laboratory facilities to Hesler. Completed in 1964, the addition (also designed by Barber and McMurry) made the complex 122,266 square feet. A complete renovation of the facility was begun in 2003, in two phases, under a joint architectural venture of King and Johnson Inc. and Michael Brady and Associates. Cost of the renovation project was set at $23.2 million, with $20.2 million being funded by the state and the remainder being funded by bonds to be repaid through overhead recoveries from grants and contracts.
Occupants of the 1935 facility were moved to Annexes—temporary facilities built on Neyland Drive and White Avenue. Phase I consisted of renovating 21 wet-research laboratories and support areas, 22 faculty offices, and 11 workspaces to accommodate 45-55 graduate students. Phase I was completed in 2005. Occupants moved back into the 1935 portion of the building, and the temporary spaces were occupied by the teaching functions—planned to be housed in the 1964 addition. While the Facilities Planning Office had declared the building ready for occupancy, there were deficiencies, such as a lack of hot water, unfinished spaces, and equipment left uninstalled.
A dispute arose between the contractor (Denark Construction) and the UT system’s Office of Facilities Planning, which resulted in the contractor stopping work. A settlement was reached with the contractor in which UT paid in excess of $700,000, and a new contractor was to be chosen to complete the project. Phase I had consumed virtually the entire amount of the capital funds appropriated, so the UT system transferred $5 million from the appropriated dollars for Steam Plant upgrades on the Knoxville campus and rebid the second phase of the project. The bids came in at $6.4 million. Funds that had been placed in the Estabrook project by the UT system to pay for construction of the Hesler temporary annexes (the annexes had been paid for from the Hesler project budget) were transferred to the Hesler project to allow it to go forward. Construction on Phase II (the 1964 section of the building) began in the last week of December 2007, with a scheduled completion date of fall 2008. After a variety of construction delays, functions were moved back into Hesler Phase II in summer 2009.