Construction projects surround The Anderson School
Construction ““Â it’s what the dorms, Bruin Walk,
intermural field and The Anderson School at UCLA all have in
common.
Anderson students, staff and faculty trying to make it in the
competitive business world will have something else to think about
besides the plunging economy this year ““ three construction
projects currently underway in the area surrounding The Anderson
School will make their journey to work or school everyday a bit
more of a challenge.
The construction on Kaufman Hall, which is to the south of The
Anderson School, began this past July and is scheduled to be done
in two years.
The state is funding the approximately $4 million project to
strengthen the building, renovate its interior, and add a garden
pavilion, Curt Ginther, the principle project manager, said.
Until recently, this building housed the World Arts &
Cultures department and cultural and recreational affairs, and they
will return to Kaufman Hall upon completion.
WAC classes have been moved to a building on Kinross Avenue, and
CRA was moved to another facility.
Currently no walkways are blocked due to the Kaufman project,
and Ginther said it “won’t be blocking pedestrian
access in the future.”
This is not the case for the installation of a chilled water
pipe line from Taco Bell to The Anderson School in order to provide
more buildings with air conditioning.
A temporary paved walkway between Fowler and Kaufman Halls has
been set up as an alternate route to avoid this construction.
While some pathways will be shut down in the future to avoid
whatever construction is occurring in different locations on
different days, Dave Johnson, the director of energy services and
utility management, said there will always be another way
around.
“We’ll do our very best to keep full access
open,” Johnson said.
But he also added closing some pedestrian walkways is
“unavoidable.”
The pipeline is projected to be done by February, and will
reduce campus electrical demand by 2 percent, Johnson said.
The last construction project is occurring in The Anderson
School, on the first floor of the Gold Hall.
A space that has been vacant and used for storage since 1995 due
to a lack of funds will be converted to the Richard S. Ziman Center
for Real Estate starting today.
Demolition, the removal of temporary walls, and the instillation
of water pipelines will result in a 12 week project, expected to
end around December or January.
This center will consist mainly of an office suite to be used by
students and researchers in the area of real estate, and its
construction will not impose on the lives of other Anderson patrons
except for in the case of additional noise and dust.
One major problem surrounding The Anderson School is the
crosswalk on Charles Young Drive North which numerous students and
staff cross unsafely daily.
The street to be crossed leads directly from Sunset Boulevard
into Lot 4, and can be very hazardous, students said.
Until the recent addition of a crosswalk, pedestrians on their
way to class would often find themselves dodging between racing
cars.
Rhyannon Rodriguez, a first- year art history student, finds the
new crosswalk “pretty comforting.”
“I almost got hit a couple of times. People in cars never
seem to care,” Rodriguez said.
