Room to grow
Posted on August 27, 2007
Students moving back to JMU will quickly notice that a lot has changed.
Construction for the Center for the Performing Arts, a viaduct connecting the Quad to the Center, an east campus library, two east campus residential halls, and east campus dining hall are all currently in the works, according to University Spokesman Don Egle.
Construction for the South Main Street viaduct has two phases. Phase one has been completed for the South Main Street viaduct. Phase one included moving utilities, such as water and electricity, while phase two, scheduled for next summer, will be the actual installation of the tunnel. The completion of phase one was delayed by two days as complications arose when the construction team hit rock formations near fiber and gas conduits.
The viaduct project around South Main Street has gotten a lot of attention, as its construction has caused part of the four-lane street to be reduced to one southbound lane and one northbound lane.
While the performing arts center’s completion is not scheduled until June 2009, the center’s parking garage, which opened in July, will allot 500 of 800 parking spots to commuting students, Egle said.
Construction on the other side of campus is also continuing, with completion of the east campus library planned for the end of April 2008. The library staff, furniture and other operational essentials will be moved in over the summer for its opening in the fall.
“We have an excellent construction team which has been able to resolve issues quickly as they come up,” Bob Cronk, library project manager, said.
“We are on schedule.”
Unlike the viaduct, the library’s construction has not created much of an inconvenience for traffic around its site.
“We scheduled most of the road work and other long-term disruptive tasks over this past summer so that there would be no major traffic problems,” Cronk said. “However, there will be a few interruptions as we complete the landscaping, but [we] expect nothing of a major nature for the balance of the construction schedule.”
Plans for two new residential halls and an additional dining hall on the east side of campus have gone underway. The residential halls will offer a total 400 beds and the dining hall will have 700 seats.
Aside from major construction, the university has initiated some smaller projects, including the renovations of some academic buildings and the replacement of the walkway around Carrier Library, Egle said.