A new dining facility, dormitory and academic building will be constructed over the next several years, replacing older buildings in a bid to improve student life.
The most important buildings being constructed as far as student life is concerned is probably a complex consisting of a new dining hall, residence hall and social facilities on the north side of Maynard Street, on the far north end of the campus.
Director of Facilities Planning Reed Bergwall said he hopes construction will begin on the Maynard Street buildings by 2003. He noted that the buildings were a "major funding requirement" which was not yet met.
Frank Roberts, director of operations at the Department of Facilities, Operations and Management, noted the Maynard Street project would require major utility work, the noisiest type of construction his department does.
However, the most noticeable -- and disruptive -- construction will probably be the new parking garage that will be near the River Cluster and across the street from the Maxwell apartments.
The all-freshman River Cluster houses 280 freshmen, and the Maxwell and Channing Cox apartments house 140, mostly Senior, students, according to the Office of Residential Life.
"The construction work on the garage should start either the first or second half of the academic year," said Bergwall.
The construction of the 600-seat Maynard Street dining hall will precede a renovation that will close Thayer Dining Hall, currently the main dining hall.
The new Thayer will include student social and performance space as well as a smaller dining facility, according to the Facilities Planning Office.
The FPO points out that most of the buildings planned are not being built to expand the number of people at Dartmouth, but rather to enhance the quality of life of the people here.
Roberts says he will also be repairing telephone ducts near Silsby and Blunt during the year. He also noted that major repairs being made to the East Wheelock cluster during the year should be complete before Fall term.
Other projects under consideration or being planned include new academic centers and expanded housing for graduate students and faculty.
Kemeny Hall will house the Mathematics Department and allow the further demolition of the historically unsightly Gerry and Bradley Halls, sometimes referred to as "the shower towers" because of their bathroom-tile appearance.
An attached academic center will host the Dartmouth Ethics Institute, the Leslie Center for the Humanities and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.
The computer science program will get a new addition to the Sudikoff Computational Center in 2003. All three of these projects have already been funded.
Additional long-term plans or plans lacking funding include new buildings or additions for the Arts program in the Hopkins Center, new Life Science facilities on the most northern edge of the campus and Thayer School additions which would stand where dormitory Hinman Hall is currently.
Construction at the Parking Lot site will begin at eight each morning -- deferred from the normal construction start time of seven in deference to nearby students -- and continue for an eight-hour working day.
