Campus construction is in full swing at the beginning of this semester. New construction projects have started, construction from last semester is complete and smaller summer projects brightened up campus over the summer.
Bennett Engineering and Physics Laboratory and Elmer Gray Stadium are the two primary construction projects from the spring that are finished.
The renovation of Bennett Gymnasium started in April 2014 and despite delays, construction was finished in mid-February of this year. Although the grand opening was this past Saturday, classes started in the new engineering and physics lab over the summer.
Similarly, construction of Elmer Gray Stadium finished at the end of the last semester. One track meet has already taken place at the stadium, said Kevin Roberts, chief information officer at ACU. The women’s soccer team has also been practicing at the stadium over the summer and played an intra-squad scrimmage there in early August.
Construction on the Onstead Science Center, formerly Foster Science Building, is progressing nicely, Roberts said. The exterior portion will be completed in October or early November. This includes the atrium and glass exterior facing the quad. The quad is also being revamped, Roberts said.
Construction on the Halbert-Walling Research Center will soon begin in the massive hole that was the former location of Chambers Hall. Halbert-Walling will provide laboratory space for modern scientific research and encourage robust collaboration between students and faculty, according to ACU. They are currently finishing preparations to pour the foundations.
“Next month, Walling will come up out of the ground,” Roberts said.
Once Halbert-Walling is completed, labs will be moved from Onstead Science Center to Halbert-Walling so construction can begin on the rest of Onstead.
Finally, the university is finalizing fundraising for the football stadium, which is projected to be open by Fall 2017.
“Our hope is that we’ll start moving dirt in January for the football stadium,” Roberts said.
