Almost three years have passed since phase one of the McKinley Project began. More than half the student body can't remember what McKinley Avenue was like before the renovation.
However, all of the students on campus now bear witness to the disjointed appearance of our potentially beautiful campus.
Construction began in May 2005 and was scheduled to be complete within three years. In August 2006 Jim Lowe, director of engineering and operations for Facilities Planning and Management, admitted that the project would take a total of four years to complete instead of the original three.
Now, nearing the original deadline, university officials say the completion of the project depends on state funding.
Planning for the project began in the 1980s. It's 2008. The university should have planned better in order to ensure the campus did not end up in a fractured state.
We understand that roadblocks arise, but it shouldn't get to the point where a campus is fragmented with no real idea of when it will be united.
At some point Ball State University should have made a call as to what was more important, erecting buildings or creating a safe environment for pedestrians and drivers alike.
The situation would be similar if the David Letterman Communication and Media Building had wires dangling from the ceiling the day the building was dedicated.
It is impossible to travel across campus on McKinley and not feel like you've entered a completely non-university related area once you pass the Scramble Light.
A rigid time frame exists for submitting plans to the Indiana Department of Transportation before the renovation can begin. The university would have to submit plans for the remainder of the project by November in order to begin the project in May 2009.
Officials, however, do not seem to have much confidence in this actually happening.
The project is largely dependent on federal funding and with the current state of the economy money is hard to come by.
Lowe said the university is following the same protocol as it did for the first two phases of the project, but the plans just keep getting delayed.
In the meantime, students can take comfort in knowing that the university is trying to complete the project. At least the portion that's finished was deemed award-worthy by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Indiana and INDOT in April 2006.
Stay motivated, university officials, to complete the project.
It's not fun having to fear being splashed by muddy water from a pothole south of the Scramble Light.
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