Collegiate Times

?Summertime and the living?s easy.? That old saying may be true for students at home, but not for the dozens of campus workers working in the summer heat to improve and expand campus buildings.

The university has set into motion several projects that are currently under way in the summer heat. Students returning for the fall semester can expect a revised Graduate Life Center, a completed Lane Stadium expansion, new Life Sciences and Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science buildings, the opening of the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion, a renovated and expanded Multicultural Center, classroom improvements and parking lot changes.

The Graduate Life Center, situated in the former Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, is currently under renovation and expansion. The work is likely to be finished in time for the fall semester. The center will harbor graduate students on two floors. Improvements include new carpet and paint in meeting rooms, lobby areas and the construction of a graduate student lounge. Additionally, the mezzanine and second floor are being completely revamped to accommodate all graduate school offices.

The GLC complex will consist of the graduate school, meeting rooms, housing for graduate students and other services for graduate and professional students. In the residential area of the building, located on the upper floors, a kitchen and lounge is being built. An Au Bon Pain coffee shop will also be included.

Also under renovation and expansion is the Multicultural Center located in Squires. This is a $337,000 project that will include a reformation of the existing center, as well as the conversion of three surrounding meeting rooms into office space for the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services. There will be a new workspace for multicultural student organizations, a new conference room and an expanded lounge for lectures and presentations.

In the athletics department, the construction on Lane Stadium continues with an expansion of the west sideline. Construction is underway to restore the grounds outside the stadium and to finish other work. And yes, Spring Road is still closed.

Construction of the new Life Sciences building on Washington Street is scheduled for completion in fall 2007. The new 72,000 square-foot facility will feature space for faculty, staff and students involved in biological research. The three-story building will house life science laboratories and animal care facilities. Within its walls, microbiology research, cell research and study of an animal vivarium will take place.

?The idea of having a brand new facility to research in is very exciting,? said Amanda Gasser, a junior microbiology major.

The engineering department will also receive a new building. The 98,000 square-foot ICTAS building began construction this past May. The facility, facing Stanger Street, will be four stories tall and include engineering-led research labs, offices and workspaces. It is expected to be complete by spring 2008.

?The ICTAS ? I Building is a long-awaited multi-disciplinary research facility that will benefit not only the College of Engineering, but many of the science, technology, engineering and math projects that are so important to the university's goal of becoming one of the nation's premiere research universities,? said Roderick Hall, assistant vice president of the office of research and director of ICTAS. ?We anticipate that the 100,000 square feet of laboratory and office space will provide the missing ingredient that so many of our professors have been lacking ? space in which to expand their research program.?

Unfortunately for students commuting to campus, several Perry Street commuter/graduate parking spaces have been removed as a result of the ICTAS building. The ICTAS building is situated on the pre-existing Durham Lot, which used to hold a number of faculty/staff spaces. Due to the loss of F/S spaces, C/G spaces in the Perry Street Lot were converted to F/S to accommodate the loss of parking.