From left: Dansville resident Justin Hansen, Mason resident Dennis Heikkila and Alma resident Troy Hooker from a Lansing-area glass company install windows on the fourth floor of an office building being constructed adjacent to the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The office buildings are scheduled for completion by the end of July.
Construction crews are hammering away on projects across campus this summer. University engineer Robert Nestle said road and utilities construction is typically planned for summer because there are fewer people on campus. Inconveniences to students are expected to be minimal this summer, he added.
“There’s construction going on all year, but there’s types that go on during the summer … because it disrupts pedestrian and vehicle traffic,” he said.
The majority of projects are happening inside university buildings, he said. All buildings remain open while under construction with the exception of Mayo Hall. Detours are set up for the roads that are closed, Nestle added.
Campus buildings
Construction on campus buildings includes additions to the Cyclotron and Wharton Center.
Two additions to the existing Cyclotron are currently under construction and will provide accommodations for both the current science program and for the future Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, which is expected to be in use by around 2017, Cyclotron spokesman Geoff Koch said.
“We’re continuing to invest in the science program here in the lab in the near term to (remain) competitive with Japan and Europe,” he said. “In the long term, part of the value we offer to the Department of Energy is that most of the existing infrastructure and what we’re working on is going to be part of FRIB.”
The $18 million construction work currently underway includes a four-story office addition slated for completion by the end of May, and a high-bay area slated for completion by August, project representative Sharon Joy said. Both additions will be used by current faculty, staff and students as well as physicists working with FRIB in the future, Koch said.
Although Joy said the construction’s impact on students should be minor, one lane of Shaw Lane and a strip of sidewalk outside the building will remain closed until the start of fall semester.
Construction work on Wharton Center will continue throughout the summer with Sept. 30 estimated as the final completion date, said Diane Baribeau, Wharton Center’s general manager, who is overseeing the project. Baribeau said the changes to the building, which include front and backstage additions as well as interior remodeling, were necessary to accommodate Wharton Center’s growth during the past 26 years.
“Backstage definitely needed amenities for crews,” she said. “We had one functioning toilet (for) crews of about 100.”
Dormitories
As renovations keep Mayo Hall closed to students this summer, dormitories including Wilson and Holden halls are scheduled to receive minor changes, and more large-scale construction is projected to continue on Brody and Owen Graduate halls.
The renovations to Brody Hall, which houses a cafeteria for all of Brody Complex, is the beginning of an overhaul of all the buildings in the area. Both Brody and Owen Graduate halls are being redesigned to offer students updated spaces for meeting and studying, said Angela Brown, a director in Housing and Food Services.Construction on Owen Graduate Hall, which is slated for completion by July 2009, has relocated residents to McDonel Hall and closed parking lots 22 and 23 until August.
Brody Complex residents should have a newly renovated cafeteria by May 2011, and Brown said a cafeteria will be provided elsewhere in the building.
Civil engineering freshman and former Brody resident Byron Hester said although the construction is inconvenient, it will be valued in the end.
“I’m excited about the new cafeteria they’re building at Brody because it’s brand new — it’s going to attract a lot more students to go to MSU,” he said.
Road work
Road work planned for the summer is minimal compared to past years, as much of the work necessary on steam lines beneath campus roads has been completed in the past six or seven years, said Michael Rice, assistant chief for MSU police.
Steam line replacement continues on Wilson and Birch roads, which is expected to be closed until August 2009. The project includes reconstruction of traffic lanes as well as the addition of bicycle lanes in the road.
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But the project that is most disruptive to the campus community, Nestle said, is the bridge on Farm Lane. The project, originally slated for completion by this summer, has been delayed until the end of September. Farm Lane will remain closed from Lot 89 north to Trowbridge Road as the project lowers the road beneath two railroad crossings.
The combination of the two road closures has frustrated some students, such as history senior Ed Daugs.
“Second semester, not only did they have Farm Lane closed, but then they closed (Wilson Road),” he said. “I thought it was poor timing to have both those roads closed when they serve the same area.”
Rice said students should remain patient and remember repairs are necessary for the university.
“The campus is like a small city, and the infrastructure needs to be worked on just like in any city,” he said.
