There has been a lot of progress made since May on the exterior. I took some pictures a while back and never got to uploading them. I'll see if I can get some newer ones on my way home from work.
Anyone go to the Cyclotron walk-through last Saturday? Very cool, although my wife was sad that the K500 (oldest cyclotron) wasn't part of the tour. She wanted to show me which parts she painted as a student employee.
Some of the notable quotes (I've reformated it a little):
Renovations to Owen Graduate Hall are part of a "fast-track project."The $10 million project, which launched in May, is progressing on schedule and is slated for completion by July 31. "We’re said to be doing about $750,000 (of work) a week, we’ve got a lot of weeks to do $10 million worth of work. It’s been exceptionally fast-paced." By the end of July, the residence hall will reopen to students with a new dining area, game and TV room as well as updated safety systems, he said.
Construction on Wilson and Birch roads, which began in May, is expected to finish on schedule Aug. 14. Work on the parking lots off of Birch Road and many of the sidewalks along the roads have reached completion, Linebaugh said during the construction meeting. Construction is currently focused on the area between Holden and Wilson halls, he said.
Construction on Wharton Center, which now features new signage suspended from the building’s new face as well as a new ticketing center, is slated for substantial completion by the end of September. The project is on schedule, with construction crews completing work on the first floor and continuing to progress toward the conclusion of construction on the second floor, she said. The third floor, which contains offices, opened to faculty on June 8, she said.
Construction on the bridge to Farm Lane, which is slated to open to traffic by Sept. 22, is progressing rapidly after a setback that delayed the project earlier in the year. Construction on parking lots along the roadway is now complete, as are many of the sidewalks along the roadway.
Reconstruction of Brody Hall, which began in January, is expected to continue until May 2011. The $49.8 million project will include new furnishings, lighting upgrades, flooring and ceiling replacements and an addition to the existing building.
Before the end of the summer, the new offices in the addition to the Cyclotron will be open for use. Glass is in place for the windows, leaving the placement of metal and metal caps for the window lines in progress. The Department of Energy is expected to move into the office area by July 20. Although the office portion of the construction is slated for completion by the end of summer, the project as a whole is not expected to be complete until July 2010 as work on a new high-bay area continues.
I'm loving all the amenities being added across campus, especially the construction that includes private funding. But you've gotta wonder if there aren't some cuts that could've been made here or there considering the current state of public university funding. It's great that we'll have state-of-the-art facilities and all, but is this really the right time when we're jacking up tuition at least 5% every year and the State can't seem to agree on the next year's budget until the last minute?
Farm Lane is now reopened. I took a ride on it on my way back from class and it looks beautiful! The change in grades makes it a lot more interesting ride as well. The CATA is still on detour, and I'm not sure when they will start taking Farm Lane. It will probably cut down on the trip time for the Commuter Lot bus from 20-25 minutes to 5-10 minutes.
Comments
It doesn't seem like the completion date will be met:
http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/07/msu_construction_on_fast_track_to_completion
Some of the notable quotes (I've reformated it a little):