Construction progresses without delay

Following a period of inclement winter weather last week, crews resumed work on a number of projects designed to transform the center of campus by the end of the year. In addition to ongoing construction on the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons (CULC), several projects were initiated over winter break, such as a the construction of a Stinger turnaround behind the Student Center, and work on the Campanile fountain to connect it to an underground cistern. Despite the setback, work will be completed on all of the projects without delay.
“Last week’s winter storm caused the construction site to close for several days. The effects of the weather continue to impact the landscape work since the construction site is muddy. However, the team will work extended hours to make up time in an effort to maintain the schedule,” said John Duconge, Georgia Tech Facilities Senior Project Manager.
As a result of these projects, traffic has been rerouted through the area, causing inconvenience for some. For example, due to the closure of Skiles Walkway, a detour has been constructed behind the Skiles building known as Skiles Allee. Also, the construction zone for the CULC building has been expanded to accommodate the installation of a cistern under Tech Green.
“They really did a great job on the area behind Skiles so that it’s nice and wide and much more pleasant than it used to be. I think it’ll get a lot better when they get done with the Campanile and that whole space is opened up,” said Dr. Catherine Murray-Rust, the Dean of Libraries.
The library will take over management of the CULC after its opening, working to integrate services and programming throughout the two buildings. Two floors of the CULC will be connected to the library, allowing students to move freely between the two structures. The library will be responsible for providing security services and the management of common spaces in the library.
In addition to managing the physical building space, the library will continue to work with partners like OIT, Success Programs and other stakeholders to provide shared services. Originally, the Provost’s Office was slated to manage the CULC, but the decision was made last fall following some discussion to turn over that responsibility to the library.
“It makes sense to take these people who know what they’re doing in all of those areas, give them more responsibility, hire more junior people and have more people generally concerned about how to run that building well,” Murray-Rust said.
The construction of the CULC will be completed in June 2011, when it will be turned over to Facilities for furnishing.