As part of a five-year, $550 million capital plan, the University’s Physical Facilities department will make visible changes to the campus landscape during the summer months between semesters.
The renovations to the lecture hall, Chenango Room and University Downtown Center will finish before fall 2012, according to the Physical Facilities website. These projects will cost the University a combined $8.8 million.
In addition to those renovations, the Physical Facilities website states that there will be improvements to the English department corridor, including new floor tiles, asbestos abatement and better lighting. These improvements are also set to finish before fall 2012.
Construction on the Central Campus Quad Project, which is already underway and will renovate the area between the Fine Arts Building, Science I and Library Tower, will continue during the summer, but the project will not be complete until November, according to the Physical Facilities website. The project will cost an estimated $3.7 million.
“[Eventually] there will be all new grass, plants, planting beds and a granite fountain,” said Karen Fennie, Physical Facilities communications specialist. “Right down the center will be seating areas, which will be a continuation of other nice outdoor space where students hang out when the weather is nicer.”
Renovations on the University Unions will begin mid-summer. Physical facilities will renovate the Food Court and the Susquehanna Room, and plan to add 505,000 square feet of enclosed space that will extend out toward the Peace Quad. The project will also add additional office and programing space to the Unions.
The Athletic Field Upgrades currently underway will cost the University $5 million. According to Fennie, this project, which began last August, will provide students with new outdoor baseball, softball, tennis and basketball courts. Fennie said the project would be completed by the fall 2012 semester, but the Physical Facilities website states that tennis court construction will not be complete until spring 2013.
Contractors will also begin work on the High Temperature Hot Water Line Replacement Project. Fennie said contractors replace an old high-temperature, hot water line between Science II and III. The Physical Facilities website states that pedestrian traffic will be re-routed as construction will require the removal of above-ground high-temperature hot water lines. The University has granted contractors a budget of $3.4 million to execute these improvements.
“Projects like this are just a part of the whole process to upgrade infrastructure, so there will be a lot of excavating in that area which will start over the summer and be completed in late fall 2012,” Fennie said.
Walkway improvements will also occur during the summer and most of the work will be completed by the fall. Blacktop walkways, seen outside of places like the Old University Union near the former Dickinson Dining Hall, will be upgraded to concrete.
One of the most noticeable projects currently under way is the construction of the four new Dickinson Community buildings, Fennie said. The construction is part of the East Campus Housing projects, which also included the construction of four new Newing College buildings and the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center, which opened in the fall, and will cost the University $350 million. The project will not be finished until fall 2013.
Construction on the old Dickinson Dining Hall will begin this summer starting with asbestos removal. The removal will begin soon after Commencement and will take about one month to complete. The building will be fenced off during the fall semester and renovations will begin in early 2013. Fennie said the Dickinson Dining Hall will be transformed into a one-stop student center, although plans have not been finalized.
“We try to time these projects to start over the summer, even though we’re still pretty busy with orientation, but we try to coordinate with other departments and try to do the more disruptive stuff when the students are away,” Fennie said.