Construction on the Katzen Arts Center and other projects around campus are proceeding as scheduled this summer, which means students will be greeted by new carpets and new concrete, moved earth and moved offices when they return for the fall.
Katzen Arts Center The Katzen Arts Center is on schedule for completion in April 2005, according to Jerry Gager, director of the Office of Facilities Planning and Development.
"We're in a phase now that things are moving along smoothly," Gager said. "The concrete frame of the building is nearly finished and they're installing the limestone and the concrete face of the building now, so we're in a pretty good construction sequence."
The 130,000 square-foot, three-floor space will include a parking area, recital hall, galleries, studios and classrooms and will be home to the Department of Performing Arts after its completion.
Holder Construction is working on the structure of the building. Holder built a smaller performing arts center completed in 2002 for Emory University in Atlanta. Three cranes are currently at the site to help unload materials from trucks and place stone panels on the outside of building. Right now much of the building looks black, but that is waterproofing that will be covered with limestone, Gager said.
AU plans to raise $30 million for the Katzen Arts Center, according to the Capital Campaign, a $200 million fundraising campaign launched last October.
Construction can be seen at www.american.edu/katzen/webcams.html.
McCabe Health Center The Student Health Center is preparing for some big changes, as outgoing Director Bethany Chiaramonte helps find a replacement and remains involved in plans for the center to move from Nebraska Hall to McCabe Hall on the South Side of campus by Letts Hall.
Construction for the new Student Health Center will begin in late August or early September, according to Gager.
"The drawings are being finished off now, the architect working on it is preparing the permit drawings, and a couple weeks after that we expect to have the construction drawings so we can go out and get bids on the construction," he said.
Although construction begins when students return, Gager doesn't predict any major inconveniences.
"There's not a lot of external construction on that project so there won't be a lot of disruption in building the new entry on the Letts Hall end of the building."
The new location will be about 3,500 square feet bigger than the old center, which will allow for more exam rooms and improve patient flow, The Eagle reported April 2.
"The first floor of McCabe is being completely renovated and specially designed for the Student Health Center," Dean of Students Faith Leonard said, adding that the center is on track to open mid-semester in spring 2005.
The Quad Construction for a plaza to be located on the north side of the Quad will begin within two weeks, according to Gager.
The plaza will be built outside the Kay Spiritual Life Center, but the construction should not disrupt entrance to Kay, according to the Facilities Planning and Development Web site.
"[The plaza will include] some additional benches like the ones between Battelle and Kogod and it will harmonize with the 9/11 plaza and those walkways," Gager said. He added that pavers and granite have already been ordered.
Anderson Hall Housing and Dining Programs is scheduled to move from the Rockwood Building into its new office in Anderson Hall the week of July 26, according to Gager.
"[It's] virtually complete," he said. "The furniture will be delivered starting next week."
Housing and Dining is moving so that employees have "more room and privacy" and can more easily work with students, Julie Weber, executive director of Housing and Dining Programs, told The Eagle in April.
The office will be located in the large conference lounge on the first floor of the south side of Anderson.
Bender Library The library's carpet is being replaced, a job that should be done by Aug. 13, Gager said, though he added that delays are possible.
"You never know what you're going to find when you pull up the old carpet," Gager said. "You might find depressions in the concrete, so there's a chance it could go longer."
So far, the contractor has finished replacing three-fourths of the carpet on the third floor and have begun on the second floor, according to Gager.
"That's a lot of carpet," he said.
Intramural Field Renewal of the intramural field, also known by students as the "arsenic field," may soon begin. AU is preparing a contract with Sportexe, a firm that will install artificial turf on the intramural field.
"We hope to start that project in the next couple weeks," Gager said. "We're still downtown with permits; we're very close though."
Construction will take about 90 days from start to finish, according to Ed McLaughlin, AU's associate athletic director for facilities and operations. However, the Facilities Planning and Maintenance Web site warns students not to depend on the field for the fall, as weather will play a "pivotal role" in the construction schedule.
The intramural field, located on the South Side of campus by the Watkins building, was closed in 2001 when the Army Corps of Engineers found arsenic in the soil, a remainder from World War I when weapons were tested at the site. The Army Corps has since completed its work recovering the chemical munitions.
Once completed, multiple athletic teams and clubs will use the field.
The Butler Pavilion Tunnel STA Travel will be closing its office in AU's tunnel at the end of July, according to Branch Manager Chadd Ritenbaugh.
"We were interested in staying," Ritenbaugh said. "We were doing really well here, business-wise. I think everyone was happy here with our service. We regret leaving and we regret that the negotiations [for a new lease with AU] didn't work out. We just couldn't come to terms that we agreed on."
Hair City will move into the STA Travel office, Jorge Abud, assistant vice president of facilities administrative services, said in a University Center Project Team meeting at the end of the spring semester. Subway may move into the Hair City space, leaving room for the Eagle's Nest to expand. Moving Jamba Juice into the Hair City location is also a consideration.
STA Travel will still be available to AU students through its Georgetown location or at a new location.
"We're hoping to maintain our business relationship with AU and it's students. We'll be reopening a new branch in the fall, probably somewhere on [Metro's] Red Line, in Tenleytown or Dupont Circle," Ritenbaugh said.
School of International Service Building The date for breaking ground on the new School of International Service Building has not yet been set, according to SIS Dean Louis Goodman.
"We're working with the architects to develop the design of the building and then we'll have to submit it to the city for permits," he said. "I don't think ground will be broken before the Katzen building is complete."
The new building will be constructed in the parking lot adjacent to the current SIS Building.
Raising funds for the building is one of the top priorities of the "A new AU" Capital Campaign, according to Goodman. The campaign aims to raise $20 million for the SIS Building.
Mary Graydon Center Some big moves are happening in the offices on the second floor of Mary Graydon, but little construction will occur.
Ultimately, the Student Confederation will lose office space to the University Center, which presides over Student Activities, events scheduling and the Mary Graydon Center and Butler Pavilion. The University Center will move into the Student Advocacy Center, the SC General Assembly, AUTO and the Residence Hall Association offices. The SC cabinet will move into the office of the Graduate Leadership Council, which will move from room 262 to 272. The SC will also retain its old office, Room 270, and the Kennedy Political Union and Student Union Board offices.
"We're kind of excited about it because ... putting all of the student government in one hallway is really going to work," said SC President Polson Kanneth.
Plans are also progressing on the Bridge project which would expand MGC on the first floor between the current building and Battelle-Tompkins, The Eagle previously reported.
