Ohio State students will see some major changes on campus in the coming months. With more than $250 million in emerging construction projects set for the university during the next several years, it seems there is another building going up, roadwork constructed or structural renovations built at every turn.
“It doesn’t seem like there is much construction happening on campus yet,” said Dana Schwab, a sophomore in business. “Honestly, it hasn’t really bothered me so far.”
Several construction areas are already under way on Central Campus including the roadwork on Neil Avenue, the improvements to Mirror Lake Hollow and the refurbishing of Larkins Hall. More construction includes building of new facilities such as the Neil Avenue graduate and professional student housing complex and the Knowlton School of Architecture building.
Major renovations will also take place in Townshend Hall, the Wexner Center, Robinson Laboratory, Smith Laboratory and the Comprehensive Cancer Center. The new $82 million Ross Heart Hospital will be built near the Ohio State University Medical Center.
Jill Morelli, assistant vice president and university architect, said the timing of a lot of these projects falls during the summer quarter because that is when student enrollment is at its lowest.
“The point is to affect the least number of students at once,” Morelli said.
A major impact the Neil Avenue construction has had on the student body is the core circulator buses cannot run throughout the summer. This is because of the road closure on the stretch of road between Independence Hall and Lazenby Hall, which runs behind the William Oxley Thompson Library.
“I’m upset that they had to shut down the buses on campus all summer, especially with how hot it has been lately,” said Carrie Tarr, a junior in chemistry. “I usually would ride the bus to some of my classes so I wouldn’t have to walk all the way across campus every day in 90 degree weather, but I don’t have that option now.”
The University Engineers Office Web site says the road upgrade is necessary in order to repair years of damage caused by heavy vehicles. Because this is a high traffic area for campus buses, the blacktop road between the control gates is being rebuilt with concrete to withstand higher stress levels. Sidewalks will be installed on the east side of the street and trees will be planted all at the cost of $400,000, said Glenn Gerhart, construction manager for the University Engineers. Construction is scheduled to complete before the first football game on Aug. 24, he said.
“There’s no good time to do this type of work, but summer is absolutely the best time to do these major road closures because we depend on them so heavily,” said Beth Kelley, assistant director of transportation and parking services. “The amount of students that we would take on the core circulator during the fall, winter and spring quarters far exceeds what we would do in the summer.”
The Mirror Lake Hollow reconstruction project is part of a continual effort by the University Architects office and Physical Facilities to revitalize the appearance of The Oval and Central Campus area. Construction is already in progress to replace the wall surrounding Mirror Lake, as well as improvements to adjacent sidewalks, steps and landscaping. Changes to The Oval will include sidewalk renovation, turf restoration, tree planting and the installation of an irrigation system. Expenditures for all of these endeavors total about $2.5 million.
Larkins Hall will be receiving a major face-lift this summer, as well. The ceramic tiles surrounding the swimming pools in the Peppe Aquatic Center are being repaired. The pools will be drained this summer to allow for the interiors to be cleaned, painted and resealed.
The 10 racquetball courts will be temporarily closed so the doors, walls and ceilings can be repaired. The annual job of cleaning, screening and refinishing the wood floors will be done, in addition to cleaning and re-coating the synthetic floors. The current budget for all of this work is approximately $100,000.
Initial construction for the new recreational sports facility will begin in the coming months as well, said Janis Browning, associate in the office of student affairs of recreational sports.
“The exhibition and gymnastics gyms will be some of the first to be demolished, and the Larkins Hall soccer fields by the towers will be undergoing some construction of a turf field. There’s some electrical work being done there already, but it shouldn’t affect us too much in this first quarter of construction,” Browning said.
Once completed the new $140 million student recreational center will house a 50-meter competition pool, diving well, recreation, class and lap pools, 16 basketball courts, six multipurpose rooms, squash courts, racquetball courts and a 28,000-square-foot fitness center. Actual construction for the center will not begin until November, and the new facility is not scheduled to be finished until May 2005.
Another spot of major construction in the campus area is the new graduate and professional student housing complex. Located on south campus at the corner of 10th and Neil avenues, the university is building the complex in order to help house the ever-growing number of students attending OSU.
The building will include a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments with a limited number of off-street parking spaces available. Undergraduate scholar students, professional students and graduate students will have first access to residence in the new building. Although completion dates for this project are still undetermined, construction costs are already estimated at nearly $30 million.
Although construction has just recently begun with a budget between $20 and $30 million, this new home for the School of Architecture is scheduled to finish by December 2003.
Students may have to find somewhere else to study late at night because renovations are beginning soon on the main library.
A feasibility study proposing a $100 million total renovation is still on the table, and an architect and contract manager have not actually been hired yet, Morelli said.
Not everyone shares this enthusiasm for the improvements being made on campus.
“I don’t understand how the university can afford to be doing all of this construction with the huge budget cuts and tuition increases there have been lately,” said Tim Huff, a senior in economics. “I think that Ohio State could better allocate its money and resources elsewhere.”
According to the University Architects office, it typically takes two or three years to accumulate enough money to finance these types of construction projects.
“Two separate pots of money cannot be co-mingled,” Morelli said. “Capital dollars are different than operating dollars.”
