Construction at MSU didn't end with roads this summer, as dust, dirt, orange barrels and equipment still linger around campus buildings. Renovation projects that began at the end of spring semester will continue throughout the school year, but should cause minimal inconvenience for students, university officials said.

Construction on the parking ramp near Morrill Hall that started in spring 2005 is nearing completion, while other campus projects are just beginning.

Chemistry Building

Masses of construction equipment and a deep hole surround the front of the Chemistry Building, detouring students, staff and faculty to the back and side doors to enter. Much of the stone on the building's face and the front entrance have been removed to prepare a new addition, making the building appear as if it has been rubbed raw.

Construction on the new section of the building — which will contain offices and classrooms — began at the end of spring semester and should be completed by May, said John McCracken, chairman of the Department of Chemistry.

Undergraduate laboratories in the building will also be renovated and completed by fall 2007, he said.

Most of the money for the $20 million project is being provided by capital outlay funds, which sometimes provide money for university projects, while the rest will be provided by the university.

McCracken said he was excited the project received significant funding from the state.

He added that the new addition will make the building easier to use and operate, and will help to combat over-enrollment.

"We're hoping to get our capacity up by 25 or 30 percent, so we can handle all the students who need to take the lab classes each semester," he said.

Enrollment capacity for organic chemistry labs could increase from about 700 students to about 900 students per semester and general chemistry lab capacity could increase from 1,800 to 2,300 students.

McCracken said the plumbing and electrical systems in 40-year-old laboratories, as well as cabinets and countertops, were in dire need of replacement.

"It's sad when you look at it," McCracken said. "The sinks are shot and leak. ? We used to have puddles of water on the floor after classes ended, and the electrical outlets are so corroded that the physical plant had to replace most of them."

McCracken said there had been a number of upgrades to the laboratories before the construction began, but now the rooms will be completely renovated.

"Everything will be new and everything will be gutted," he said. "Hopefully, it will be a nice place for students to work. This is the first really big push to put money back into these classrooms."

Ardeshir Azadnia, coordinator of organic chemistry labs, said the renovations were overdue.

"You can see layer-by-layer how the (cabinet) casework is peeling off," Azadnia said.

He also said the department needs to expand its sections.

"Students are complaining that they have to graduate this semester and can't (get into lab sections), but there's nothing we can do about it. There are only so many work stations," Azadnia said.

Chemistry junior Colin Blakely said he never had trouble getting into lab sections, but added the lab classrooms were in need of upgrades.

"They were pretty shabby before," Blakely said. "They're not very nice, but they're just old and stuff's not working well."

The updated building will also have more handicap-accessible student restrooms and accommodations.

"In the mid-1960s, nobody cared about these things and it wasn't a part of building code," McCracken said. "The building doesn't have women's restrooms on every floor either."

McCracken said the only restroom for persons with disabilities in the building is on the third floor, and there are no women's restrooms on the fourth and fifth floors and in the basement, but the renovations will create handicapped and women's restrooms on every floor.

Residential College

There will be more hammers and hard hats in Snyder and Phillips halls this year than books and baseball caps, as construction begins on the new residential college.

No students will be living in the hall this school year because of the construction, and the university has prepared for the building's closure by offering less single dorm rooms to help combat the potential overcrowding.

The midsection between Snyder and Phillips halls has been removed and eventually will be converted into a five-floor structure, said Steve Esquith, acting dean of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

The residential college in Snyder and Phillips halls will have renovated dorm rooms, classroom and multipurpose space, faculty offices and a dining room.

"The residential living space is being integrated so students can congregate and do their work within the residential wings and be connected to the college," Esquith said. "The instructional space will be very state-of-the-art with a variety of different applications and a lot of versatility."

Some of the structure of the building is already being erected, which could give some feel of what it will look like, said university engineer Bob Nestle. He said the new section of the building will look similar to the halls.

"We try to make the buildings look compatible with the original structure," Nestle said. "A modern-looking appendage on that part of the building would look inappropriate."

The renovations are scheduled to be completed by August 2007 and will cost about $43.2 million. Nestle said about $8 million has been spent on the project so far.

Parking Ramp 6

The structure of parking ramp 6 north of Morrill Hall has taken shape behind layers of metal scaffolding.

Construction on the ramp is about 80 to 85 percent complete and is ahead of schedule, said project spokesperson Brad Bull. The $19.5 million project was scheduled to be completed by July 2007, but Bull said it should be finished by spring.

The new ramp will have about 740 parking spaces. Bull said the ground and basement levels of the ramp will have metered parking while upper floors of the five-story structure will be for faculty and staff.

The new ramp is being built on a former 200-space faculty and staff parking lot. Nestle said a temporary gravel lot was created near the Old Horticulture Building, and the university leased spaces from the city to make up for the lost parking spaces during construction.

Nestle said about $14.2 million has been spent on the project so far and added that there have been no set-backs thus far.

He said the ramp was created to help with a shortage of parking spaces on north campus.

"In time, it will help in removing on-street parking in north campus, which causes a lot of accidents," he said.

Nestle said despite the construction being close to many faculty offices and campus buildings, most have been supportive.

"Most people are so tickled to see the parking problems alleviated," he said. "Some have been inconvenienced, but most are happy to see the ramp being built."

James Anderson, a professor of history who works in Morrill Hall, said he hasn't been greatly affected by the construction, but doesn't agree with the project.

"It is the single most wasteful project I have seen go up on this campus in all my years here," Anderson said.

Spaces easily could have been leased from the city and would be cheaper than building a structure on campus, he said.

"It should be called a parking palace. It's very expensive and very extravagant," Anderson said. "It looks like a giant Pac-Man that wants to eat up Morrill Hall. It is, and always will be, a wasteful project."