Despite rain delays and several large events on campus, construction continues to progress on the new heating and cooling loop line and the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
Construction crews have successfully connected nine of 23 buildings to the new heating and cooling loop line. The rest of the buildings on campus should be tied in to the circuit within the next two weeks, said Scot Colley, director of physical resources. The Robert D. and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center is next in line to begin running on the new system.
Once the main heating and cooling line is completed, crews will finish the line’s feeders and then take time to demobilize their efforts. Both Colley and Zane Dennis, executive director of facilities and campus development, anticipate completion in mid-October – assuming no rain delays or other setbacks.
Rain has made for challenging and often impossible working conditions on the loop line project. Dennis said construction crews have found it is sometimes better to wait a few days for the ground to dry before moving forward.
“It kills us,” Dennis said. “Everything they work on is in the ground and everything is saturated.”
As loop line construction comes to an end, students and faculty should expect to see more progress on the Wellness Center, Dennis said. At the moment, construction teams are still focusing on structural elements in the foundation and basement of the Wellness Center.
While parking and congestion will be a challenge during next week’s Homecoming events, supervisors say student and campus visitor awareness will help keep projects running smoothly.
“It’s not going to be any different than it has been for the past few events,” Dennis said. “We need everyone to be very, very aware of their surroundings.”
Dennis and Colley suggest Homecoming participants avoid parking in the lots behind the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building and recommend parking behind Edwards Hall near the the old intramural fields instead.
Supervisors also ask people to step lightly on the fresh sod being laid across campus in completed construction areas. The sod needs approximately two weeks of total water saturation to survive after it is planted. Walking on the grass is harmful both to the growing process and campus aesthetics.
“It’s a huge issue. Please stay on sidewalks,” Colley said.
There is currently fresh sod in front of McKinzie Hall and the McGlothlin Campus Center and in the mall area outside Moody Coliseum.
