Five major construction projects have already begun to transform the Dartmouth campus this fall. Well underway, the combined $113-million effort, which began in August 2004 and is scheduled to end in 2006, represents a major expansion of the College's educational, athletic and residential facilities.
The projects include two new residential facilities, an addition to the Thayer School of Engineering, an overhaul of the Alumni Gym and a series of buildings to house a variety of departments and centers. Even with all the activity, the College is making an effort to minimize disruptions on campus.
"We've been working to schedule construction around times when it's nicer to be quiet," Jack Wilson, associate director of the Office of Planning, Design and Construction, said. "We've reduced construction during exams and reading periods, and we try and help neighbors by not staring the construction too early." Construction started on the $20.7 million MacLean Engineering Sciences Center on Aug. 2, 2004. The addition to the Thayer School is set to be finished in the spring of 2006. The building will provide more space for undergraduates and add new studio labs and conference rooms, according to the Office of Planning, Design, and Construction's website.
Work continues on the $38-million McLaughlin residential cluster and the $17.7-million Tuck Mall residence halls, which the College hopes will be open by Fall term 2006. The McLaughlin cluster, begun in December 2004, will provide 342 new beds in two residence halls, with a 2,000 square-foot common area.
The Tuck Mall residence halls, begun in the spring of 2005, will add another 162 beds in two buildings. The cluster's two halls are joined by a glass structure that will serve as the primary common space for the new halls as well as for Butterfield and Russel Sage residence halls and the Gold Coast cluster.
The new dormitories' combined 504 beds should alleviate the housing crunch that has plagued the College during the past several years and allow for future renovation of existing dormitories.
The College is also looking to foster communities within the new dormitories, which are designed to bring residents together in social and study spaces.
"Both in McLaughlin and Tuck Mall, there are large common spaces that are designed to let people come together and will hopefully hold a variety of events," Wilson said. "That's definitely a part of the plan, to try and facilitate more social interactions,"
Also underway is the $12-million Alumni Gym renovation, which will add a new 14,000 square-foot fitness center to the building's upper floors. The renovation also includes restoring the roof, adding eight new multipurpose fitness spaces, improving the Karl Michael Pool and equipping the building with a handicap-accessible front entrance and an elevator. The project, originally scheduled to be complete by fall 2005, fell behind schedule. The College now hopes to complete it by winter 2006.
The $24.6-million Kemeny Hall and Haldeman Center project will provide new facilities for the mathematics department, the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, the Fannie and Alan Leslie Center for the Humanities and the Ethics Institute, along with new conference space. Construction on the project started on Nov. 29, 2004 and is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2006.
In addition to the major construction projects on campus, regular maintenance is underway with the replacement of the steam line on Tuck Mall and a sewer line on Webster Avenue. The College is replacing the steam line, while the sewer line replacement is a collaborative project with the town of Hanover. The $400,000 project, scheduled to be completed sometime this week, will replace the sanitary sewer and storm drains that were overwhelmed during the construction of the Tuck Mall project, Wilson said.
