Construction on the Hill expects visible progress in near future
By Sean Greene
Jan. 21, 2010 10:28 p.m.
Construction work on the residential Hill is moving forward, despite the lack of visible progress seen by students.
Since the beginning of fall quarter, sections of the Hill have been cordoned off by green fences enclosing deep trenches, piles of dirt and heavy machinery.
“I haven’t really seen much at all, but they’re definitely working,” said Mico Pulice, a first-year undeclared student.
The Northwest Campus Infill Project, originally estimated to cost $248 million, has been contracted for far below the original estimate because of a favorable construction climate, said Pete Angelis, director of Housing and Hospitality Services.
The construction near De Neve Hall is now entering into the development phase of construction after most of the utility work was completed, Angelis said. The Sproul site will break ground this spring.
“The very complicated work that is done is underground,” Angelis said. “That work has to be done before we break ground on the new sites.”
In order to support the new developments, he said modifications had to be made to the sewer, drainage and electrical systems, which led to the lane closure on De Neve Drive and the full closure of Charles E. Young Drive West.
“Enough of that work should be completed so we can have one lane (on Charles E. Young Drive) running south within the next few weeks,” Angelis said.
The De Neve Drive lane closure will remain for the duration of the construction. The space of both closed lanes are needed to allow access of large construction vehicles to the building sites, Angelis said.
Students must have dealt with the same inconveniences during past construction projects, said Alexandra Noe, a second-year mechanical engineering student, citing her own residential plaza, Rieber Vista, now in its fifth year of operation.
“In the future, I think people will appreciate (the new buildings),” Noe said. “For now, we have to suffer through it because people did that for us.”
The development phase of work occurring above ground will be more visible, Angelis said.
With construction beginning on the upper and lower De Neve sites Monday, followed by the Sproul site in spring, Angelis said students can expect to see rapid progress, especially under the tight deadlines.
By the middle of next week, the construction sites will be entirely enclosed by fences and ground clearing will begin. Between February and March, the sites will be ready for excavation and shoring, or the fortifying of the hillside to prepare for the buildings’ foundations, said Barbara Wilson, associate director for the Rooms Division of Housing and Hospitality Services.
With the ongoing rain, construction has been temporarily delayed on the De Neve constructions.
“We hope to have a break in the weather here, hopefully, in the next 48 hours,” Angelis said.
The project will add 1,500 beds to the Hill, which should be available between summer 2012 and winter 2013.
“This is really part of our continual … transition from a commuter campus to a residential campus,” Angelis said. “Just as importantly, we want to have enough inventory that we do not require students to go into triple rooms who do not want triple rooms.”
Triple rooms will still be available, however, for students who request them for either social or financial reasons, he added.
Angelis said crews are also creating two new walkways on the Hill; Rieber Walk, to connect Rieber Hall to De Neve Drive, and Garden Walk, to act as an extension to Rieber Walk that will lead to Saxon Suites.
The new walkways are meant to accommodate increased traffic on the Hill with the new dormitories, Wilson said.
In addition to new housing on the Hill, two construction projects will add housing for single graduate students.
Two sites on Hilgard Avenue have already broken ground and will open late summer 2010, Angelis said.
Work on Weyburn Terrace II will begin Friday, weather permitting, with the removal of several trees in the area. Actual ground-breaking will not be for another several months, Angelis said.
The project will add 500 more graduate student studios by fall 2012.
