Despite some minor setbacks, progress remains steady on the construction of the newest East Wheelock dorm, Berry Library, Whittemore Hall and the downtown parking lot as well as on the renovation of Silsby Hall.
The fourth and newest dorm building of the East Wheelock cluster will be completed as scheduled in late July and available for residence next fall, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman said.
"I think it's going to be a great building," he said about the dorm, which will be arranged in modified suites and will also include several singles and doubles.
Redman said Hanover's lack of inclement weather so far this year has allowed the project to stay on schedule.
Not all are satisfied with the construction process, however. Many students in the East Wheelock dorm cluster have complained of loud machinery that has awakened them early in the mornings. Yet Dean Redman is confident that due to contracting compromises and the entrance into new stages of construction, this problem is nearly resolved.
"Most of the noise issues should be pretty much behind us until late spring," he said.
Assistant Director of Facilities Planning Reed Bergwall is also satisfied with the progress being made on the Berry Library Project.
Phase One, which includes the construction of Berry Library, a limited renovation of Baker Library itself, and the construction of the exteriors of future offices, classrooms and student caf, will be completed by fall 2000. The projected completion date for Phase Two is in early 2002, by which time the Carson wing of Baker will be completed and both Baker and Berry libraries will be connected. The demolition of the Kiewit Computation Center is scheduled for this summer.
On the other side of campus, the construction of Whittemore Hall, the new residential facility for the Tuck School of Business, began last April and is progressing rapidly. The courtyard's steel structure is currently being erected and the building will be covered so that construction can continue into the winter months.
"The challenges of the site as well as the need to control construction costs have pushed the completion date for the project to December 1, 2000," said Penny Paquette, special assistant to the Dean at Tuck. Graduate students will be able to take residence in Whittemore beginning in winter 2001.
The renovation of classrooms and offices in the former psychology department of Silsby Hall is back underway after the discovery of asbestos in the building's top floors halted construction for six weeks this fall.
Although Dartmouth's Director of Environmental Health and Safety assured The Dartmouth the amount was well below acceptable levels, concerns that dust from the construction would disperse this cancer-causing substance to other areas of the campus forced project managers to stop the renovation effort.
However, with the construction reinitiated, the bulk of the renovation of Silsby Hall is scheduled to be completed by mid-August, 2000. Until then, many classes in social science departments this fall had to be relocated to Gerry and Moore Halls or to the Rockefeller Center.
"I am very happy with the progress we have made and that we have found a way to work very cooperatively with the departments in the building," Assistant Director of Facilities Planning John Wilson said.
Progress is also steady on the new parking lot in downtown Hanover. After being briefly sidetracked by some site issues, the parking lot is both on schedule and on budget according to Associate Director of Real Estate Woody Simonds.
"Overall it's been a smooth project," Simonds said.
"It's going to go a long way for curing the problems with parking," he stated, although emphasizing that the spaces are being provided primarily for Hanover merchant and customer use rather than for students.