Site work on the Center began shortly after Commencement in June 2009, according to Snyder.
The building will take approximately 22 months to complete, and should be open and ready for use during Fall term 2012, she said.
"We will have plenty of time to move the film and media studies and studio art departments into their new home," she said.
A series of site-enabling projects have to be completed before actual construction of the Center can begin, Snyder said. Construction crews have accomplished the reconstruction of the Spaulding Auditorium loading dock and the demolition and site remediation of Brewster Hall.
The demolition of Clement Hall will begin in the first week of February, according to Snyder.
Along with these projects, the College must complete a litany of other "necessary activities" in preparation for construction, Snyder said.
These include obtaining documentation such as building permits and zoning permits as well as pre-qualifying general contractors, she said. The general contractor is ultimately responsible for carrying out the Visual Arts Center building plan.
The College has pre-qualified six general contractors and will present them with a bid package in late February.
The College plans to award one contractor with the position six to eight weeks after the presentation of the packages.
"We will award the project to the contractor who is best qualified and most competitively priced," Snyder said.
The six contractors have passed "an evaluation that sets a quality threshold and experience threshold [for the project]," she said.
Construction of the Center was made possible by an anonymous $50 million donation received in June 2009, as previously reported in The Dartmouth.
Voting on the final design of the building was postponed after numerous Hanover residents expressed their concern that the Center did not adhere to the town's long-term vision of the downtown area, John Scherding, associate director for design in the College's Office of Planning, Design and Construction, said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
Norwich, Vt., resident Paul Tuhus said at the Center's confirmation meeting that he did not find the building "welcoming," as previously reported in The Dartmouth. He compared the Center to a podiatrist's office.
Despite requests from residents, however, the College will not include an underground parking facility in the design of the Center. The lot would have been impractical for a garage, due to the presence of an underground river and ledge, Scherding said. The final plans for the Visual Arts Center received approval in July 2009, as previously reported by The Dartmouth.
