New construction, renovations take shape as target dates near

By Joshua Murray

 

As the university’s construction continues, three major campus-wide projects have target dates for completion.

Phil Gatton, director of Plant and Service Operations, said renovations to Pulliam Hall, the Richard Jones Stadium and the Student Services buildings’ construction are coming along as scheduled.

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Gatton said some campus buildings’ age have made construction and renovations necessary.

“It’s an older campus,” he said. “It’s a campus built in the ’50s and ’60s primarily, so all those buildings are coming of age and they require a lot of maintenance, a lot of updates, and we’ve been fortunate we’ve been able to do a lot of that recently.”

When Student Services building work began in 2010, completion was initially set for fall 2013, he said. That timetable has been maintained, and the building is close to completion, Gatton said.

“We’re scheduled to be open for homecoming weekend,” he said. “We’re putting the finishing touches on it, moving in furniture, final painting, cleanup, so it’s moving along quite nicely.”

The Student Services building will offer admissions, housing and financial services.

During her State of the University address, Chancellor Rita Cheng said the building will help streamline campus processes such as the “Woody shuffle,” which all new student employees are required to complete. Once the construction is complete, Woody Hall will be renovated to create new classroom space, Cheng said.

While some Woody Hall services such as graduate services and the financial aid and bursar offices will make the transition to the new building, others will stay in their designated offices. Rita VanPelt, Disability Support Services assistant director, said her office would stay put.

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“DSS will not be moving into the ‘new Woody Hall,’ we will remain in our current office,” VanPelt said. “Many other offices are preparing for the move … The new building will facilitate offices that require more space for the students they assist.”

The renovations at Pulliam Hall are also coming along on as scheduled, Gatton said.

Plans to restore much of the building’s electrical, mechanical and overall structural systems of the building, including the gymnasium, were announced in 2012. The renovated area will partially be used to move Art and Design students from the Blue Barracks to new studio space.

“We just finished the second floor of the gym,” he said. “The pool has been filled in, a lot of the mechanical systems are put in, so we’re on schedule to be done in fall 2014.”

Updates and renovations to Abe Martin Field, soon to be known as the Richard “Itchy” Jones Stadium, are also set for completion early next year. Andy Pettit, associate athletic director of facilities, said the stadium is on schedule or its January 2014 completion.

“We’re actually ahead of schedule a little bit,” Pettit said.

The stadium renovations couldn’t have happened at a more appropriate time, he said.

“We were so far behind,” he said. “We were by far the worst in the league. One of the worst regionally, for sure.”

The baseball stadium is the last sports facility on campus to receive major updates and renovations, he said.

“It’s really one of the last dominos in our row to knock over,” Pettit said. “Baseball was the glaring facility that was in dire need of repair.”

Matt Daray, Karsten Burgstahler, Amanda Erd and Jalisa Coleman contributed to this story.

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