Ground and construction crews at Ball State kept themselves busy throughout the summer with numerous building and street renovation projects around campus. As the Fall Semester begins, crews will continue to work in order to meet their deadlines.
Jim Lowe, director of engineering, construction and operations, said Aug. 13 that the presence of construction workers and equipment during move-in would "aggravate the situation." Therefore, construction workers planned to suspend all projects Wednesday to Saturday of move-in week in order to make the process smoother. After the brief hiatus, they will move on to wrapping up any leftover summer work and the beginning of fall projects, Lowe said.
Cathy Bickel, associate director of Housing and Residence Life, said Kinghorn Hall residents have been redirected to Neely Avenue to alleviate traffic. As of Aug. 13, Housing and Residence Life did not expect to do anything different for move-in, she said.
With the reopening of Neely Avenue, many of the traffic issues during construction were avoided. Neely Avenue reopened Saturday, with trees already planted on the divisions and lights installed. However, there will be more work done on Neely, as ground crews continue to work on the landscaping.
Lowe said some of the construction that will continue at the start of school will be the renovations of Studebaker East Complex and North Quad as well as the extension of geothermal piping.
"There will be workers coming and going once the school year starts," he said. "Three to four weeks from now, Stu East will be fenced off and they will remove the entire facade to renovate the exterior."
Construction on the exterior of Studebaker East will continue until December, when the interior of the building will undergo demolision and renovation work.
Although all the boreholes for the geothermal project have been drilled and the parking lot on the area was rebuilt, the extension of piping to complete the first phase of the geothermal project will also continue until December or January. In some areas, such as LaFollette field, construction will be stopped until November, once fall outdoor activities finish. The far west side of the LaFollette Complex parking lot will continue to have pipes installed up to Petty Street next summer, Lowe said.
Construction projects were spread around campus during the summer, but the area on Neely Avenue underwent the most construction, offering a completely renovated space for students to see this fall, Lowe said.
"It's a combination between work on the Recreation and Wellness [Facility], Kinghorn Hall and Neely Avenue," he said. "All of a sudden, the area becomes quite pleasing to the sight on both sides of the streets and even the street itself. It all comes all together."
Junior public communication major Joshua Howard said the renovated buildings and street caught his eye as he walked by.
"I'm all for change. It makes the campus more presentable and eye-popping, this will bring more students to the university." he said. "We really have to give a big thank you to the people that have done construction this summer."
Lowe said although construction took up time and space from students, faculty and staff, they all showed patience toward the work on site.
"I know when we close down a street, it just really tampers with the progress for everyone," he said. "Everyone has been patient and excellent, and for that we are very thankful."
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