When students are away, the maintenance crews play.
As students began to trickle off campus in June, painters, carpet-layers and construction workers arrived to begin the laborious task of renovating the campus.
The absence of students meant classrooms and buildings were more accessible for everything from a coat of paint to a major renovation.
“Summer is when it gets really busy for us,” said Mike Hanneson, central shop supervisor with Facility Services.
One of the more extensive projects that Hanneson’s crew worked on this summer was the remodeling of the Career Center on the second floor of Hendricks Hall.
“We have removed walls and made narrow hallways open from one side of the building to the other,” said Larry Smith, Career Center director. “There is also new carpeting, new paint and new furniture.”
Construction began in June and should be completed in October.
In addition to making space in the Career Center, the faculty hoped to promote a sense of warmth and professionalism. The $300,000 project was funded with student fees.
While the remodeling is not completed, the Career Center is open.
Larger construction projects undertaken this summer include a $4 million renovation of the old Law School building, Grayson Hall.
The 80,000-square-feet renovation resulted in more library space and new classrooms, offices, computer labs, seminar rooms and improved existing classrooms.
Students aren’t the only benefactors of this summer’s renovation efforts. Departments are also expanding because of the construction.
With the history department, Oregon Survey Research Laboratory, and the Social Science Instructional Laboratory all moving out of Prince Lucien Campbell Hall and into the newly remodeled Grayson Hall, more space was left for departments remaining in the building.
“We received new office space we badly needed,” said John Gage, head of the English department. “For the first time in many years, we are able to bring all of our English GTFs into [PLC]. Before, they were sharing office space off campus.”
Greta Pressman, campus relations manager for Facilities Services said the PLC renovation was a project that began on the ninth floor and ended in the basement.
“About 120 offices received some kind of upgrade,” Pressman said. “The College of Arts and Sciences met with everyone and reassigned space.”
But there’s still work to do. Next spring, the elevators in the PLC will be completely renovated.
The final phase of the Student Recreation Center program, a $2 million renovation project, was also completed this month. The result is a set of new covered tennis courts behind MacArthur Court, in time for fall term, said Drew Gilliland, facility director of physical activities and recreation services.
Blueprints for next summer’s construction are already drawn; the largest project is a 100,000-square- foot addition to Gilbert Hall.
The project budget is approximately $30 to 40 million dollars, much of which came from private gifts.
“The key groups are administration and University Planning,” said Dale Morse, professor at the Lundquist College of Business. “And making a convincing argument for the new space or remodel.”
Construction for the addition to Gilbert Hall is slated to begin no sooner than June 2001.