Summer means construction time
By Joe Kleinsasser
When it comes to construction projects, summertime is the prime time to get work done because campus life is a little less hectic and the weather is usually favorable.
According to John Gist, director of facilities planning, it won't be long before a number of new parking-related and Crumbling Classrooms projects are started.
Bids for the parking plan project were due in late April with work expected to start in mid-to-late May. The exact schedule and project sequence is negotiable.
Gist expects the first step in the parking plan will involve the construction of a new parking lot on the south half of the Heskett Center playfields. That work will likely begin soon and be completed in time for fall classes.
In addition, the extension of Perimeter Road on the west side of campus in an area north and west of Duerksen Fine Arts Center will take place. These initial projects will have little impact on campus parking this summer. The goal is to have those projects completed by the beginning of the fall semester.
Later this summer, the demolition of Alumni Drive north of Wiedemann Hall past the south side of Levitt Arena will likely start. At the same time, work will begin on a new entrance off Hillside one block south of the present entrance near Levitt Arena.
Parking in some lots will be affected by maintenance work this summer and fall. The new parking lot being built on the playfields should help offset the temporary loss of other parking.
Gist projects that Phase I of the McKinley Hall renovation, which was legislated in the Crumbling Classrooms bill, will be completed July 31. At that time chemistry will relocate to the completed space, and Phase II will begin on the south side of McKinley. The targeted completion of Phase II is early 2001.
New Crumbling Classrooms projects for Ahlberg, Wallace and Lindquist halls will start this summer with completion of some projects before the fall semester. These projects will involve mostly minor improvements - lighting, controls, some new floor covering - to general classrooms and lecture halls. Some work will continue into the fall semester.
