Over the course of next week, preparations for a new, unnamed first-year dorm, renovations to the east steps of the Union Building and repairs to the steam leak near the Administration building will take place, according to Associate Vice President of Facilities Management, Warren Whiteshell.
In addition, the north side of College Street—in-between the Green Center for Performing Arts and Lilly Recreational Center— will be closed in June and replaced with a walkway by the end of August, added Whiteshell.
The minor renovations and repairs will be completed before students return from spring break, said Whiteshell, but the walkway and first-year dorms won’t be completed until August 2019 and 2020, respectively.
The first-year dorm, which will be located where Humbert parking lot is, will cost about $21.5 million while the walkway will cost around $980,000—both will be funded entirely through borrowing, said Whiteshell. The smaller projects will be funded by the annual operation capital renew and replace budget, he added.
On Monday, in preparation for the first-year dorm, contractors will begin installing construction fencing over Humbert’s lot and the southbound lane of Locust Street, closing both off, said Whiteshell. Locust Street will be reopened on June 1, but the Locust Street sidewalk will be closed for longer.
The parking lost on College Street will be replaced with new parking lots on the corner of College and Indiana streets, while those that park on Locust Street will be redirected to the Hogate and Ohio street parking lots, said Whiteshell.
Any trees that are removed, as a result of the construction of the first-year dorm, will be replaced with 10 other trees somewhere on campus, said Whiteshell. Facilities Management has worked with two certified arborists to determine the health of the trees being removed, and all but two of the trees that will be removed have significant ash borer issues and/or are unhealthy and dying, he added.
Other developments, such as renovations to Roy O. West Library and upperclassmen living are planned to follow the completion of the first-year dorms.
