Though construction has been ongoing throughout campus, a statewide freeze on capital funds has delayed construction on the Lecture Hall and the East Gym that could have begun this summer.

The spending freeze, which was put into effect last spring, affected projects that had not yet begun. Construction on the Newing project and Science V were allowed to continue as planned, since construction was already underway.

Currently, the cardio equipment from the East Gym has been moved to a large classroom in the Old University Union, and FitSpace classes are available to students on the New University Union. Vice President for Administration James Van Voorst said that some of the primary areas and FitSpace are expected to be back in operation for next year.

According to Karen Fennie, the communications specialist for Physical Facilities, the East Gym project was scheduled to start right after spring 2010 commencement, but the project just began in the past few weeks.

Fennie also said that renovations to the circular hallways in the concourse area of the Lecture Hall were scheduled to take place during the summer of 2010, but those plans were also delayed by the spending freeze.

‘The money existed, but we did not have authorization to spend the money,’ Fennie said. The plan was to renovate half of the concourse during the summer of 2010, and complete the renovations during the summer of 2011, but the project cannot begin until summer 2011.

‘We can’t afford to take those offline when classes are in full swing,’ Fennie said of the Lecture Hall, explaining that the project had to wait until after the spring 2011 semester. Those renovations are now expected to be completed by fall 2012.

EAST CAMPUS

According to Van Voorst, the buildings in the Newing section of the East Campus construction project are on schedule to be completed in 2011.

Newing community will have three more new dormitories, which will add nearly 1,100 extra beds for students living on campus.

In addition to the dormitories, the East Campus construction project also includes the creation of a new dining hall and collegiate center.

The total cost of the construction on the East Campus is about $340 million.

The plans for these new buildings were created with Leadership and Energy Environmental Design (LEED) certification in mind. LEED is a set of standards designed by the U.S. Green Building Council to rate buildings on their impact on the environment.

‘We are actually shooting for LEED Gold for all of them [the new buildings], and Bingham has already been submitted for consideration,’ Van Voorst said. Gold is the second-highest tier in the rating system. It is higher than the ‘Certified’ and ‘Silver’ ratings, but is lower than ‘Platinum.’

In addition to the East Campus project, the Health Services building was also recently renovated, making the facility more efficient for students and faculty. The renovations increased the number of exam rooms, increased the size and capacity of the pharmacy and added a smart classroom as well.

SCIENCE V

Construction on Science V is still underway, and is running on schedule and on budget. Van Voorst said that it is expected to be ready for use January 2012. The new additions to the building include new labs, research areas and up-to-date work areas with more flexibility.

The opening of Science V will be beneficial to the campus community because it will provide ‘surge space,’ which means that classes and faculty work will be able to be moved out of the other science buildings into Science V so that the other buildings can be renovated as well.

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES COMPLEX

According to Van Voorst, the Innovative Technologies Complex is still under construction. It is moving along on schedule and is estimated to be completed in 2011. The new building will add space for state-of-the-art labs, and it will also allow for surge space to take some people out of the old Engineering Building.

‘ Rob Bellon contributed to this report