The disruptive banging and clanging of construction projects has become an everyday fact of life for many UO students on their walk to campus. With numerous buildings being renovated, expanded or torn down simultaneously, it can be difficult for students to keep track.
Perhaps the most notable difference on campus to students is the opening of the new residence halls. These two buildings are open for occupancy this fall, one being a conventional freshman dormitory and one being on-campus “apartment style” living for upperclassmen. These are located in between LLC and Unthank halls, on the site where Walton Hall used to be.
The Kalapuya Ilihi dormitories will be closed for residence this academic year due to cracks in the walls. The dorm, which cost $45 million to build, is expected to reopen in the fall of 2024.
Also taking place on campus is the ongoing project of updating Huestis Hall. This science research facility built in 1973 has been undergoing renovation for safety upgrades, modernized biology and Institute of Neuroscience labs. A few other improvements include restored brick, paint and windows, an equipment elevator and a bike shelter.
According to Angela Seydel, the director of issues management at university communications, Huestis Hall is expected to meet USGBC sustainability certification of LEED Gold. This means that the building is identified as a “healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green building.” All new construction on campus is being built with the goal of meeting this status.
As football season kicks off, students will likely notice the construction site of Phase 2 of the Knight Campus. The walk to Autzen on Riverfront Parkway will not be impacted by this construction.
“You’ll start to see things above ground here pretty soon as we build our way out of the excavated hole,” Denise Stewart, owner’s representative at Campus Design and Construction, said. “So that’ll be really exciting as the building will start to take shape over the next six months.”
During this phase of construction, the existing Knight Campus building will continue to be open for business as usual. Later in the process of the project, a smaller third phase includes plans to connect the two buildings via footbridge. The project is set to be complete in winter of 2025.
Building two of the Knight Campus is being specifically designed for engineering students to be able to thrive in their studies, according to Lewis Taylor, director of Knight Campus Communications, via email. The new building will also host new research facilities and tools for biomedical studies, facilities to host speakers and events and a public bistro.
The site of the Phase two of Knight campus has caused disruption to the Urban Farm. It is in the process of relocating and expanding to a new riverside location nearby. According to Urban Farm Director Harper Keeler, 15 trees from the farm have been transferred to the new site. However, progress on this project is currently on pause.
Keeler credits the student movement, previously known as Save the Urban Farm, as the cause for former president Michael Schill to dedicate one million dollars towards the Urban Farm Program. “As the director I had very little to do with it all because it’s more important that students are taking agency for what they’re doing,” Keeler said. “That’s much more powerful. I couldn’t be prouder as a teacher to see students stand up for what they care for.”
Despite the downsizing, the Urban Farm has continued to serve the community by donating several thousands of pounds of fresh produce weekly to various local food pantries. “As the urban farm is reduced in size by about half, the remaining half becomes even more valuable,” Keeler said.
The University of Oregon disputes the claim the Urban Farm has been reduced by half, citing the financial dedication towards expansion.
Just off campus, next to the Duck Store on East 13th street, is the site of a construction project that will soon be a mixed retail and housing building. The seven-story building will have 108 units with retail space on the first floor and less than a dozen parking spaces. The retail space will be home to a bistro-type business with food and coffee for residents and the public. The leasing office for the residential space will also open up on the first floor with the goal of convenience and creating an active lobby.
Mark Miksis, partner of deChase Miksis Development, the contracting company running the project, is a University of Oregon alum. He remembers the liveliness of East 13th during his time at school, and hopes this project will bring similar life back to the area following COVID-19.
“They have the balcony that overlooks 13th; we really wanted to bring that energy back to the street,” Miksis said. “We didn’t put it up on the roof, we wanted there to be interaction between the passersby and the people that live in the building, really create that and that energy with the building.”
Construction is set to be completed in August of 2024, with the goal of holding hardhat tours in the spring of 2024, prior to completion. They are expected to be open for residence in September of 2024.
Miksis reminds students to use the protected pedestrian zone when walking on East 13th street, and being aware of one’s surroundings around the site, as well as asking bikers to dismount and walk their bikes through the narrow pedestrian channel.
Finally, a project in the Knight Library was completed to consolidate and improve campus testing centers. In an email, Seydel said 5,000 square feet of space was demolished in the basement of the Knight Library and redesigned to house a variety of different testing spaces. These rooms include sound dampening walls, individual and group spaces and a new waiting area at the northwest entrance of the library. The goal of this project is to create a comfortable space that is easy to navigate to reduce the stress of the testing process.
While UO’s ever-changing construction projects and closures of specific sections of the university can be frustrating, the end result of new, modern buildings may prove to broaden the size of campus and its resources for students.
[Correction: This article has been updated clarifying impacts construction has made to the Urban Farm]
