PULLMAN, Wash. — Traffic flows at normal pace, up and down the main artery of the Washington State University campus, as construction on Stadium Way nears completion.
All that remains to be done on the project that slowed motorists for months is some signage installation and landscaping, said Keith Bloom, quality assurance officer for WSU Capital Planning and Development.
“We’re also working to make the new traffic light at the intersection of Stadium Way and Nevada Street more visible,” he said. Officials expect the project to be complete in Mid-October.
The new indoor practice facility on South Fairway Road is complete, with minor corrective work to be done. An Oct. 5 grand opening took place as part of Homecoming activities.
Construction on Library Road is about 70 percent complete. Most of the substructure and preparatory work is in place. Crews will begin applying finishes that include granite veneer on the walls and stone and concrete paver installations on stairs and road surfaces. Officials expect Phase I to be complete by early December.
The $12.7 million Murrow Communication Center addition is going into full swing and will be the most noticeable project on campus this semester, Bloom said. Massive excavation began the week of Sept. 30. Pile driving (the insertion of steel beams through the soil to solid rock) will begin Nov. 21 and last for about one week.
Crews also will do utility work in the area that extends from Thompson Hall on Veteran’s Way to College Avenue. The work is being done to enhance the university’s ability to maintain cool buildings in the warmer months, Bloom said.
The Institute for Shocks Physics Building will be complete in January, 2003. Workers are completing exterior finishes and preparing to start-up the building’s electrical and mechanical systems to initiate the commissioning process. The three-month process is done to “prove the building works the way it’s supposed to,” Bloom said. The building will be ready for occupancy by mid-February.
The storage building and plumbing shop, once located at the site of the proposed energy plant and replacement facilities, are being relocated east of McCluskey Services Building. The new structures are scheduled for completion by December. Plant construction is scheduled to begin in late spring, 2003.
Design services are being sought for the new energy plant to be constructed at the corner of Grimes Way and Olympia Avenue. The facility will provide primary steam generation for campus heat and hot water needs. Construction is expected to begin next year.
Design work for the Plant and Bioscience I Facility (west of Johnson Hall) is underway, with construction slated to begin in July, 2003. PBS I is a 96,000 square foot, state-of-the-art bioscience research complex with new laboratories and classroom space.
Design for Cleveland Hall Education Addition, a 20,000 square foot facility adjacent to the existing hall, is nearing completion. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in July, 2003.
WSU branch campuses also have new facilities on the drawing board. The WSU Vancouver campus is in early design phase for its new student services building. This project has an estimated total construction cost of about $9.8 million. Construction on a new $20-million academic center, also a centerpiece for the WSU Spokane campus, is scheduled to begin in summer, 2003.
Drawings and details of most campus projects are available at the Capital Planning and Development office in Commons Hall on the WSU campus. Information also is available at the office’s Web site: www.cpd.wsu.edu.
