Nuts and Bolts:
Construction Update Corner
Update provided by Deb Morgan, Dean/Construction Liaison
A committee from the Faculty Support continues to work with the architects on selection of faculty work area furnishings. This group successfully designed the faculty suites that will be located in the new Juniper and Live Oak Halls. Furniture selection will be completed by this group on February 16.
Faculty who will reside in Juniper (English, Math, Reading, ESOL, and Education) had the opportunity to review the final design of that building in early December at a meeting in Huisache Hall. This group, led by Cindi Bluhm, has worked for the past nine months to design all of the classroom and lab space housed in Juniper. The group members gave their stamp of approval on the final design. The architects are now completing the final construction documents for that building. Juniper and Redbud (the team led by Christine Godin) will be the first two buildings completed in August 2008. Groundbreaking ceremonies are slated for April. IMED, music, and art faculty have also completed the special design of the electronic classrooms to be located on the third floor of Redbud.
The science faculty just this past Friday completed the selection of cabinetry for the science labs in Live Oak. This team is led by Brian Stout. The final design and development presentation for Live Oak and for Cypress (Campus Center) will occur March 2. The Student Success team (led by Debi Gaitan) has worked long and hard to design a student-centered complex which includes a large dining area, bookstore, advising suite complete with financial aid and bursar services, plus several second-floor suites that include a health/counseling/access services center and an assessment center. Live Oak and Cypress are slated to be ready for move-in as of December 2008.
The fine and performing arts faculty (led by Stephen Barnes) are in the middle of their design work with the architects. They are working on the Palmetto Fine and Performing Arts Center, which will house a 400-seat theater, a black box theater, a recital hall, and a dance performance venue. Each of these venues will double as instructional/classroom space. There are several additional classrooms for the fine arts including a painting/drawing studio, photography classroom, and a sculpting studio. The fine arts faculty are working with the drama faculty to collaborate on scene shop and sculpting studio space. Finally, this building will house six music practice rooms (for individual lessons) and a larger practice room for ensembles, etc. The lobby of the theater will serve as the art gallery space.
A new physical plant will spring up on the east side of campus to support all of these new buildings. The physical plant is named the Mexican Persimmon Plant. Bernie Zertuche leads the team working on this facility.
Judy Camargo and Deb Morgan continue to work to secure funding for the child care center, fine arts building, and a hiking and wellness trail to be connected to the campus sidewalk system. We have a number of grant applications already submitted and continue to work on others. We are optimistic that we will be able to bring each of these facilities/venues to fruition.
It was exciting to see the building signage materialize last week. Ten years is a long time to wait! This week you will see the addition of parking lot signage, signage for the sidewalks, and directional signage for vehicular traffic. In addition, monument signage is being added in four locations: (1) the corner of Wiseman and Ellison (2) the corner of Ellison and 1604 (3) the parking lot entrance on 1604 and (4) the Wiseman site just past World Savings. The signage work is slated to be complete by March 15. Our main entrance sign is also getting a facelift.
We will break ground for a parking lot near the portables in May. It will give us an additional 206 spaces by August.
Finally, we should see the completion of the "cut in" in early summer so that students and employees exiting the parking lot near Pecan Hall can turn left toward Wiseman.
As construction begins in May, you will be glad to know that all construction traffic will enter the campus from Wiseman, where the new entrance to the campus will eventually be located. This will keep the trucks, etc. away from students and our current traffic challenges.
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please call Deb at 348-2370.
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