Construction continues

CHRISTIAN LAUTENSCHLEGER/THE LANTERN A pedestrian detour sign sits in front of Brown Hall on 17th Avenue. Because of the construction fence blocking off the sidewalk, many students walk on the street instead of walking on the sidewalk, opposite of Brown Hall. Students have found that some of their regular paths to class are fenced off or rerouted because of campus construction. But, thanks to a push over winter break, some of these projects are nearing completion.

Two construction projects include the upcoming demolition of Brown and Lord halls. Over break, the two buildings underwent "abatement activities, disconnection of utilities and reinforcement of underground tunnels over break," said Kristin Poldemann, project manager at Facilities Operations and Development, in an e-mail. "As you can see, all of these activities are not obvious to the public … I can assure you that a lot of ground was covered over break."

In Brown Hall, "the next couple of weeks will be spent salvaging and recycling materials," said Elizabeth Eckhardt, the communications director of FOD. "Full deconstruction is schedule to begin on the 26th."

View Larger Map Lord Hall's deconstruction is three to four weeks behind Brown's, Eckhardt said.

"At times it may be necessary to briefly reroute due to road construction/utility construction, but no large sections of campus are planned to be blocked off at this time," Eckhardt said.

Despite the re-routing of student traffic, there have been no complaints.

"We have not received complaints," said Kristin Poldemann, project manager at FOD. "We have an excellent communication plan in place to inform neighbors and other university officials on what activities are planned and how long sidewalks or services would be interrupted. As soon as the buildings are deconstructed and the materials are sorted and removed, the fences will be removed. The ideal time for planting is early spring, so it will not be very long before the sidewalks are restored for use."

As for what will happen after the demolition of the two buildings, "It's way too soon," Eckhardt said. "There are no formal requests. We are at the very beginning stages. It can take a really long time with funding approvals."

Other construction, such as the new library and Union buildings, is on schedule, Eckhardt said.

"Library continued interior work - cork reading room floor is complete; terrazzo floor work continues; wood paneling work; building commissioning has started (HVAC). The Union continued masonry work; window installation; interior framing; mechanical and electrical system work," she said in an e-mail.

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Everdeen Mason can be reached at mason.388@osu.edu.

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