Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
February 1, 2002

Construction projects continue

by Anne Krapfl
If it impacts your parking lot or your hike to your building, you may be aware of some construction projects. If your view is construction fence-free, here's an update of what's happening -- or about to happen on campus.

Carver Co-Lab. About 160 parking spots (general staff and commuter students) in the lot north of the Communications Building have been gobbled up for this project; about 30 of those will be reclaimed when the facility is completed sometime in spring 2003. The construction hole continues to get deeper. Planning has begun to try to replace, in the vicinity, some of the lost parking space.

Gerdin Business Building. Construction fence is up at this site (southeast corner of central campus) and excavation has begun. All but about four reserved parking spots on the Union Drive hill east of the Memorial Union have been removed to create an access for construction equipment. All but about four vendor and departmental parking spots on the south side of Union Drive also have been removed. Knoll Road from Union Drive north to the parking lot behind Curtiss Hall will be closed for the duration of the Gerdin construction project (anticipated completion date is November 2003).

Lot 49 (behind Curtiss Hall). The lot is torn up for another two to three weeks for utilities work for the Gerdin Building. When it reopens, it will be accessible only from the north (through an Osborn Drive gate and then south on Knoll Road). The redone lot will not include vehicle access all the way to Sloss House, as it used to. This lot contains 24-hour reserved and disability stalls only.

Hoover Hall. Excavation began this week at the site, west of Marston Hall. The concrete pad of what once was Exhibit Hall served as a temporary parking lot for about 25 faculty and staff; they now have returned to general staff lots. Building construction may close the driveway on the north side of Black Engineering periodically. Marston Court, along the north side of the site, will remain open and a temporary gravel road along the east side of the site will provide vehicle access to Pearson and Black Engineering, when needed. The project also will close Bissell Road for periods, including all this summer, when a pedestrian bridge is constructed. When Bissell Road reopens next fall, it will have one lane of traffic, not two, in each direction. The intent is to slow vehicle traffic and improve pedestrian safety on that side of campus. Hoover Hall is scheduled for completion in December 2003.

Jischke Honors Building. The building, north of Curtiss Hall, still is scheduled for completion in March. The Honors Program staff has indicated it will stay in its temporary Pearson Hall space until the end of the semester.