Construction continues on
campus
By Laura Pelner
Campus
Editor
The roadwork being
done on Beering Drive by Ross-Ade Stadium should be finished by Purdue's
first home football game on Sept. 15, completing the first phase in
the $60 million renovation of the football stadium.
The road, located
between Tower Drive and Cherry Lane, is being moved west to accommodate
an expanded concourse and new press box, which will begin construction
this fall.
"Right after this
football season, we'll start demolition of the press box and suites,"
said Wayne Kjonnas, vice president for physical facilities. "Major work
will start this winter."
Tom Schmenk, director
of facilities planning and construction, said that in addition to constructing
a new press box, other support work will also take place. For example,
he said new restrooms, new concession stands and the new concourse will
all be started this year.
Schmenk said all
the work won't be completed for two years, but the stadium will be useable
for the 2002 season.
"We have to make
sure there's a time during the football season that the stadium is useable,"
he said. "We're coordinating the contractors' work so we have safe ways
through, utilities hooked up and that everything is functional during
that three to four month period when football is in session."
Cary Quadrangle
The construction
on Cary's West housing units is finished and students are moving in
this semester.
The new rooms are
suites, with air conditioning and two rooms that share a bathroom, similar
to those in Hillenbrand Hall.
Similar work will
now begin on Cary Northeast. "They'll be pretty much identical," Kjonnas
said. "We'll essentially gut it and build it into suites."
He added that the
work will continue through the school year and will be finished and
ready for students by fall 2002.
Eventually, all
the sections of Cary Quadrangle will be remodeled. Schmenk said construction
would be done in equal increments around the building, though he added
he wasn't sure which section would come after Cary Northeast.
Visual and Performing
Arts
Construction on
the new Visual and Performing Arts building, which will be located south
of the Martseller Street Parking Garage, is already in the beginning
phase.
Contractors are
on site and setting up their equipment now. Schmenk said workers have
already started digging and preparing the foundation work.
Schmenk estimated
the project would take between 20 and 22 months to complete. "By late
spring or early summer of 2003 we should be wrapping it up so we can
get moved into it," he said. "When classes start in 2003, we'll be ready."
Krannert
Purdue will begin
taking bids for the addition to the Krannert Building of Management
within the next month.
Kjonnas said he
thought the bids would start coming in September, be awarded in early
October and construction would probably begin in late October.
Schmenk said that
even when the construction begins, students and classes wouldn't be
affected too much. "It won't affect anything in the existing building,"
he said.
The new addition
and current building will be joined by an overhead bridge, which Schmenk
said would be connected during a summer to minimize problems.
University Advancement
Building
The University is
still working on plans for the new Advancement Building, which will
be located within a few blocks of Krannert.
Kjonnas said there
isn't a definite schedule for the building yet but he expected bids
would come sometime in the spring.
Purdue is working
with the Alumni Association and Advancement Office group on the project.
Schmenk said he hoped construction would start in the spring and said
the project probably wouldn't take too long.
"Hopefully it won't
take much more than a year and a half to build it," Schmenk said. "It's
a relatively small office facility."
The Future…
Even though this
summer was busy construction-wise according to Kjonnas, he said it was
nothing compared to what next summer will be like.
Next year, the southeast
part of campus will see major construction work including the Visual
and Performing Arts Building, the Krannert expansion and the University
Advancement Building.
There will also
be work going on around Ross-Ade Stadium and Cary Northeast. West of
the Recreational Sports Center, the University will be installing a
chiller plant, which will require pipes and equipment to be installed
down State Street.
Kjonnas said it's
possible there may also be work in the Discovery Park area around the
Purdue Village.
"If you look around
campus, almost all four corners will be under construction," Kjonnas
said. "Next summer is going to be a real challenge."
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