At the beginning of the fall semester, students and faculty were met with a new construction project on campus, the reconstruction of the Anderson and Gladfelter terrace.
The current state of the construction is set up for 3 main entrances for both Anderson and Gladfelter’s respective buildings. Entrances include two through the SERC (Science Education and Research Center), one on Polett, also leading into the SERC, one between the food pad and TECH as well as through Anderson Annex off 11th, where most commuter students enter through.
The construction is slated to be completed for Fall of 2020. But associate Vice President of Project Delivery Group Dozie Ibeh starting the project earlier would not have avoided the alternatives.
“I’ve heard questions about you know could it have been done over a summer period,” Ibeh said. “The project regardless of when we started was gonna run over a two-semester period. So, we started as soon as we could effectively started.”
It was announced that the renovated terrace would be the new “Lot K”, the area that students tailgate during home football games.
Ibeh said that even though that would be a possibility, so would many other spots on campus such as the Bell Tower, Mitten Hall and the Founder’s Garden. If the proposed stadium gets approved, the tailgating events would only happen a few home-games per season, but the open space would be accessible to everyone throughout the duration of the year.
With the main entrance gated shut, students and faculty are not only concerned with getting to class on time but are worried about the possibilities of not being able to safely evacuate in case of an emergency.
Associate Professor Dr. Amy Friedman says she was never informed of safe exits for possible evacuations.
“I’m finding it incredibly difficult to get around because there’s constantly a wall of people because we don’t have as many places to walk so we are all channeled into very small spaces which is a little claustrophobic, makes it hard to get anywhere,” Dr. Friedman said. “Somebody told me this morning even if you can run, you couldn’t.”
Even though there are concerns about the safety of the construction, students and faculty continue to bare with the process. Anderson and Gladfelter halls have been in existence since the 1960s, so when it comes to keeping up with other on-campus projects, such as the Charles Library, the College of Liberal Arts believes it is time for a change.
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