Despite weeks of record-breaking temperatures, construction crews managed to finish their major summer projects on campus in time for the new semester.
Cameron Smith, associate director of construction management, said the summer construction went smoothly and all crucial summer projects are finished for the first day of class.
According to Smith, the 4 major projects on campus included renovating Riddick Engineering Laboratories and south Gardner Hall, building a new biomedical building on Centennial campus and finishing the Jordan Hall addition.
Robert Bruck, a professor in environmental science and technology, said he was shocked when he first opened the doors to the Jordan Hall addition last week.
“Students haven’t even seen the new building yet, and they are going to be flabbergasted when they see how nice the new facilities are,” he said.
Bruck said he is excited about having larger, state-of-the-art classrooms, an auditorium and spacious, top-of-the-line labs.
“The labs are unbelievable,” he said. “They are huge. Right now, each lab is built to accommodate 30 students, but you could double .”
Jordan Hall is primarily used for environmental, earth and atmospheric sciences, as well as forestry studies. It also includes the Natural Resources library. Bruck said he believes the new addition was essential for the growth of the departments.
“This really adds to the portfolio,” he said. “Good students have a lot of choices about where to go for school, and now we have really excellent facilities, along with excellent programs to recruit the best and brightest.”
Across campus, another building received a partial renovation this summer, though it was dropped from being a major construction project, according to soil science professor David Crouse.
Crouse said Williams Hall, the home of agronomy, soil and crop sciences located next to the Brickyard, was due for a large-scale renovation. As the bond process went on, the budget for the building was cut multiple times.
“I fully understand why they decided they may not do much with this building,” he said. “It’s sinking. And we’re at a point in the history of this building where you’ve got to think, is it more cost effective, is it a better use of taxpayers’ money to repair a building [that is] old, or just to completely tear it down and build a new one.”
Although the long-term future of Williams Hall is uncertain, some renovations were done this summer on two labs on the second floor. Crouse, who has taught classes in those labs for the past three years, said he is impressed with the work the builders were able to get done in the heat.
According to Crouse, the two labs were in dire need of a remodel. He said he didn’t think the labs had been modified since the 1950s.
“They were in bad shape,” he said. “It was something the students [mentioned] on their end-of-semester evaluations. In the three years I’ve been teaching classes in here, students have always complained about the quality of [these] lab[s].”
According to Smith, the labs are ready to use for the first day of school, but other renovations on the building, including some construction on the fourth floor and exterior of the building, are ongoing and scheduled to be finished by late November.
