Major Construction Projects Over Summer Months Will Enhance Colorado State University

Beginning this summer, Colorado State University’s campus will undergo significant transformation with the launch of eight major construction projects to enhance campus and its learning, teaching and research environment.

After several years of stagnant funding for campus maintenance and construction, CSU has pulled together the resources to move forward on a number of key improvement projects. In the short term, this will mean detours and congestion on campus, and some campus green areas and open spaces will be temporarily used for construction staging areas and parking space.

"We want to alert our campus community that there will be short-term difficulties with parking and driving around campus over the next 24 months – and some of the pretty parts of campus won’t be so pretty for a while – but the situation is only temporary," said Colorado State’s Facilities Management Director Brian Chase. "We’ll have plenty of signs around campus to direct people, and information will be available online to help people avoid problem areas during the construction period. In the long run, all of the green areas will be restored, even improved, and we’ll have greatly improved learning and living facilities for our students."

Projects slated for construction in the next 18-24 months include a new residence hall connected to the Academic Village, an addition to the Music Building on the Oval, an addition to Rockwell Hall for the College of Business, an Academic Instruction Building, an indoor athletics practice facility, expansion of the existing Campus Recreation Center, a new athletics academic and training building, and a parking garage.

The projects add about 344,000 square feet to the campus’ teaching, research, training and housing facilities. Additionally, the university will improve parking options with construction of the university’s first garage, which will provide between 850-900 spaces. These improvements come on the heels of the university’s new 20,000-square-foot Computer Science Building, now under construction.

The construction will cause temporary disruption in parking until the parking garage is completed because several building sites are on current parking lots. During the summer session, in particular, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to consider alternative transportation options such as taking the bus, riding their bikes or carpooling to avoid parking frustrations.

Construction on most projects is slated to be completed within an estimated 18-24 months. The parking garage is slated for construction beginning late summer or early fall and will be on the southeast corner of Lake and Center Streets.

To help absorb the temporary loss of about 1,100 parking spaces due to construction, a temporary lot will be built on the lawn east of the Student Recreation Center. Chase said he expects that many people will be concerned when they see a traditionally green and open part of campus used for parking, but he cautioned that this will only be a temporary situation. Once construction projects are completed, the temporary lot will be transformed back into a grassy area that will be enhanced and designed for use as an open amphitheater and as a retaining area in case of a flood.

"Because of limited state funding, the university has placed multiple construction and facilities improvement projects on hold for several years," Chase said. "Meanwhile, the number of students on campus has continued to rise, and the need for upgraded facilities has only intensified. Now, thanks in part to student and donor support, the university has an opportunity to make up for lost time with much needed improvements to campus to ensure that students, faculty and staff are learning and teaching in modern facilities. These new buildings will bring the university state-of-the art classrooms and benefit generations of students and teachers."

"Parking Services is working to ease the discomforts of the parking impacts on campus," said Dave Bradford, director of Parking Services. "We continue to urge everyone to consider alternative transportation options – at all times, but particularly during this period of intensive construction. Parking in certain areas of campus will be disrupted over this period, without question. We will work to keep the campus community updated on impacts to parking, and we ask for patience and understanding throughout this process as we work with the campus community to improve facilities."

Progress updates on construction projects and their impact on parking will be available at Today@ColoradoState, on the university’s facilities management Website at www.facilities.colostate.edu and on the parking services website at www.parking.colostate.edu.

The new construction projects include:

Rockwell Hall Expansion: Rockwell Hall will be expanded by 35,000 square feet to the east of the current structure. The addition will support a new undergraduate business program.  Timeline: Groundbreaking is expected in fall 2008 with completion in January 2010. Funding source: student fees and private donations.

Indoor Athletics Practice Field: A new 57,000-square-foot indoor practice field will be built to the north of the Student Recreation Center. The building will have a synthetic turf field, a sprint track and a regulation size basketball court. Timeline: Groundbreaking in summer 2008 and completion in summer 2009. Funding source: private donations.

Recreation Center: Several additions will be made to the current Student Recreation Center. About 61,000-square feet will be added on the east, southwest and north sides of the current building. The existing center also will be renovated and updated to include an indoor climbing/bouldering area, expanded fitness center, a new multi-athletic court, a juice bar, meeting rooms, game rooms and renovated and expanded locker rooms. Groundbreaking is slated for March 2009 with completion fall 2010. Funding source: student fees.

Athletic Academic and Training Building: An 18,000-square-foot addition will be built on Moby Arena, south of the Fum McGraw Center. It will contain a weight room and academic study/tutoring space for student athletes. Timeline: Groundbreaking in summer 2008 and completion in summer 2009. Funding source: private donations.

Music Building addition: The Music Building will be expanded with an additional 20,000 square feet to the west, providing access in one location to a variety of student programs including Resources for Disabled Students, Student Transfer Center, Center for Advising and Student Achievement and Undergraduate Research. Timeline: Not finalized. The project has an estimated completion in 2011. Funding source: student fees.

Academic Instruction Building: The Academic Instruction Building will be a 90,000-square-foot structure on the current parking lot south of the Clark Building. The building will contain office and classroom space including instruction classrooms, lecture halls, group study spaces and a large wi-fi study lounge. Timeline: Groundbreaking is slated for January 2009 with a completion date of January 2010. Funding source: student facilities fees.

Housing – 200-Bed Residence Hall: A 63,000-square-foot residence hall will be built east of the new Academic Village, housing 200 students, as part of the next phase of the Academic Village. Timeline: Groundbreaking will likely be this summer with a completion date of summer 2009. Funding source: Housing and Dining Services revenue.

Lake Street Parking Garage: This new parking garage will add 860 to 890 parking spaces on campus, including staff and student parking. The garage will also include a small retail space and some office space. It is the first of three planned parking garages on campus. Groundbreaking is slated for fall 2008 with completion late fall 2009. Funding source: parking permits and fees.

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