Plans to demolish Alter Hall have been pushed back until the summer of 2013.
The Office of Physical Plant is preparing to use this academic year to plan the construction of the new building with Academic Vice President and Provost Scott Chadwick heading the project.
Robert Sheeran, associate vice president for facility management at Physical Plant, said, “A study of our existing classroom utilization is being conducted to determine how classes will be offered when Alter is offline. Several scenarios are being looked at but no decisions have been made.”
During the academic year of 2012-13, the designs of the new building will be finalized, allowing for initial construction to begin in May 2013.
“The construction process will take two years allowing the building to be occupied in the summer of 2015 and ready for classes in August of 2015,” Sheeran said.
Several changes on campus will occur to accommodate this new construction and result in a more contained greenspace area.
“Demolishing Alter and rebuilding a new academic building in the core of campus will require very careful logistics,” Sheeran said.
In fact, the building site will be enclosed with fencing and only accessible from Herald Avenue and Ledgewood Drive.
Due to the necessity of this street access for construction purposes, portions of the street will remain open in front of Hailstones Hall. This area will be the central access point for the construction site vehicles and equipment to reduce commotion on the Academic Mall.
When the new building project is completed, the remaining street access on Herald Avenue and Ledgewood Drive will be converted to malls, further enclosing the campus.