With the steam tunnel project coming to a close on North College Street, the Class of '93 will have a commencement ceremony less marred by the presence of construction noise and heavy machinery than last year's senior class.
However, the cranes, steel beams, and mounds of dirt at the sites of Collis Student Center and the old mental health building of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center serve as continuing reminders of a year full of campus construction and renovations.
At one point this spring there were four construction sites visible from the green.
Construction on the new Collis Student Center at the corner of Main and Wheelock Streets will continue until early next winter, Gordon DeWitt, director of Facilities Planning, said. The completion of the $5.5 million project was originally planned for March 1994, but renovations are now ahead of schedule.
Efforts were made to tidy some of the construction sites before commencement and reunion activities began.
"I suspect that the week before commencement, we'll spruce up the area around Collis," DeWitt said. "It's obviously a construction site, but we're mindful that we should make it look as decent as we can."
Phase II of the $9.4 million steam tunnel project, which has gutted North College Street, ended last Wednesday.
The project, which began during the summer of 1991, will update a steam pipe system from the 1950's. The new pipe system, stretching from North College Street to Elm Street, will be able to support planned extension of academic buildings north of Baker Library.
The Sudikoff Laboratory Project, already underway at the corner of North College and Maynard Streets, will transform the old mental health building into an updated mathematics and computer science facility.
Construction on Sudikoff, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, may be finished in late fall. "We're not sure, but we have a shot at that at least," DeWitt said.
Construction on both Collis Student Center and the Sudikoff Laboratory will continue throughout the summer.
Burke Laboratory and Byrne Hall, two additions to the campus, opened during this academic year.
Burke Laboratory, a chemistry facility attached to the Fairchild Tower on North College Street, was dedicated last September. Byrne Hall, the newest addition to Tuck Business School, was dedicated May 14.
Recent construction projects in Hanover have created dust and noise off campus as well. New granite walkways replaced the sidewalks in front of the main entrance to the Hanover Inn and outside of Murphy's Tavern and the Dartmouth Co-op.
The sidewalk renovation at the corners of Main and East Wheelock Streets lasted for six weeks, and was completed on June 1.
