While visitors to campus may think they are viewing the work of an overzealous archeology department, changes in the University’s landscape are actually several major demolition and construction projects in various stages of completion.
The most visible construction is between Andrus Field and Wyllys Avenue, the site of the new Usdan University Center. Over the summer, the Alumni Athletic building was demolished and the Fayerweather Gymnasium was torn back to its original 1892 footprint. Work has been progressing on the site, with most underground utilities rerouted. Steel framing will begin in January, and the building has an expected completion date of Fall 2007.
The Usdan University Center will contain a wide assortment of dining options, replacing those in the current Davenport Campus Center. The dining facilities provided by MoConaughy Dining Hall (MoCon) will also be shifted to the new center.
“Our campus plan calls for the demolition of MoCon following the opening of the Usdan University Center,” said Associate Vice-President for Facilities Joyce Topshe.
The Davenport Campus Center will be converted to classrooms and departmental offices for the social sciences.
Usdan will incorporate new facilities with expanded services. For example, students currently share a small mailbox with two or three others, as the existing mailroom is not large enough to accommodate personal boxes.
“Every student will have their own mailbox which will be larger than the current boxes that are shared in Davenport,” said Dean of Campus Programs and University Center Director Rick Culliton.
The new center will also have room for more students and activities than the existing center can accommodate.
“[The Usdan University Center] is going to be more than a beautiful building,” Culliton said. “It is being designed with state of the art kitchen and dining facilities, a new post office, box office and retail space. It will be home to the WSA [Wesleyan Student Assembly] and the Campus Programs and dining offices. In addition there are several meeting rooms and function spaces, the likes of which we just haven’t had before on campus.”
The increased range of services to be provided by the new campus center will also necessitate a longer operating day, a feature that the student body has often requested.
“Because of the expected activity in the building, it is likely that the University Center will provide late night dining [and] will be open until 1 or 2 a.m. each night,” Culliton said.
Another facilities project hitting closer to home is the future of senior woodframe houses. Currently, most seniors live in woodframe houses or in the five-person senior suites in the Fauver Senior Residences. For now, the existing senior woodframe houses will be kept up. Primary maintenance concerns are based on the rising costs of heating the houses, many of which are not insulated and do not have efficient heating systems.
Additionally, the new prototype housing on Fountain and Warren streets houses 24 students in five units. The prototype senior houses were built this year as possible alternatives to the current woodframe houses. They feature advanced geothermal heating and cooling systems.
The University has also recently approved funding for a new 15 person senior house to be built on either Pine or Warren Street. Designs for this new house will be completed after the first residents of the prototype houses provide feedback on the viability of these houses.
Alpha Delta Phi has recently closed the doors on its own renovations.
“The front steps were cracked and beginning to become hazardous,” said Alpha Delta Phi President Benjamin Platt ’06. “Plus, we didn’t have a wheelchair ramp. We didn’t feel like getting sued, so we renovated just in time for the house’s hundredth anniversary. It was both a practical and a celebratory consideration.”
The construction of a new porch was completed in time for this weekend’s Homecoming, during which the house will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Students living in the new Fauver residences can also expect some changes next semester.
“Because the building was built so durable and energy efficient we discovered that cell phone signals will not penetrate the walls,” Topshe said. “We are in the process of installing devices inside the building to allow cell phones to work inside.”
The devices will be installed in time for the spring semester.
Finally, the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies is being expanded to provide better services to students. All mechanical and electrical equipment for the new structure has been installed and the exterior siding and windows should be completed by mid-November. The addition is expected to open in January 2006.
Leave a Reply