Summer construction season begins
May 5, 2008
by Joe King
While the installation of chilled water lines beneath Normal Road will likely be the most disruptive construction project on campus this summer, many other projects will take place the next few months.
Here is a glance at the warm weather work:
- Elevator upgrades in Zulaf and Davis halls. The elevator cars themselves will not look much different, but the mechanical systems that keep elevators operating in those buildings will be completely overhauled. Work will take place May through August.
- Expansion of Public Safety offices. The space formerly occupied by the Speech and Hearing Clinic (recently relocated to the former Monsanto Building on Sycamore Road) will be remodeled into facilities for campus police, alleviating serious overcrowding in their existing facility. The remodeled space will include lockers, a squad room and an emergency operations room.
- West Campus street repairs. Stadium Drive, Lucinda West and the Lincoln Hall Drop Off Drive were severely damaged by winter weather. The surface of those roads will be ground off and reapplied. Work will be heaviest in June and the project should be completed by the end of July.
- Soccer field and running track. Work to construct a new soccer field began in mid-April. The project will include the removal of the existing soccer field, which will be replaced by a synthetic surface similar to the Field Turf in Huskie Stadium. The new surface drains better, plays truer and will allow teams to use the field for practice as well as games. The new running track, which will have a polyurethane surface, will provide a regulation competition venue for the NIU Women’s Track Team. Installation of the soccer field is to be completed in July and the project as a whole should be completed by early fall.
- Parking Lot improvements. Parking Lot 10 on Castle Drive, which is currently being used as a staging area for the chilled water line construction project, will be rebuilt and resurfaced. Parking Lot K (near the former Carol Cinema on Lincoln Highway) will be repaired and resurfaced.
- Parking Deck Cleaning and Sealing. From mid-May through June, the Parking Deck is scheduled for cleaning and sealing work, meaning that parts of the structure will be closed during that time as work progresses.
- Recreation Center. Carpeting in the Cardio/Weight Room of the Student Recreation Center will be removed and replaced with a new synthetic floor that will be easier to clean and sanitize.
- Anderson Hall door and window replacement. New doors and windows will be installed at Anderson Hall to improve energy efficiency. Work is scheduled to begin after graduation and continue until late August.
- Smart Classrooms. Smart classrooms will be installed in DuSable 302 and 310, Faraday 143 and 144, the Riley Courtroom in Swen Parson Hall, and in three rooms at Lincoln Hall and three rooms at Douglas Hall.
- Chilled Water Plant. Construction of a new chilled water plant, to meet cooling demands on the East Campus, will begin in late summer.
