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news
Workers try to
beat deadline for Monday
By Christine Shin
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
With the extensive
facelift Cal State Long Beach is currently undergoing, students
may have to endure by reading the signs and finding alternate
routes around campus. Construction workers and campus officials
are in moving progress for Monday's launch of the Fall 2001
semester.
From the Brotman
Hall plaza to the Social Science/Public Affairs building,
projects are scattered all over campus. Construction is eminent
for anyone who walks university grounds. Nevertheless, the
jobs with the most potential to impact the most students are
being stressed for Monday, said Dale Hartmann, university
construction manager.
The Brotman Hall
plaza, a major facility to many areas of campus, has been
closed off during the summer sessions. By Monday, a pathway
from the pedestrian bridge to BH and from BH to the stairs
that go up to the west turnaround should be cleared for pedestrians,
Hartmann said.
The renovation
at BH consists of getting down to the structural deck so that
a new waterproofing membrane can replace the dilapidated membrane,
which was leaking water into the basement offices below it
for years. The delay in completing this job was in the discovery
of the cancerous asbestos fiber in the waterproofing membrane.
CSULB was forced by strict guidelines to the removal and disposal
of the fireproof fiber. Abestos has been found to increase
the risk of lung cancer and a lung disease known as abestosis.
Lastly, a new concrete walking deck will be laid to complete
the BH project and allow students and faculty to walk freely
through the plaza again.
"We will have
an opening for people to walk through," said Scott Charmack,
associate vice president of Physical Planning and Facilities
Management. "The only difference is that we will have
to walk around the fountain and not straight through the plaza."
In order not to
disrupt foot traffic, an electrical duct bank under the sidewalk
adjacent to PH1, PH2 and FO5 should also be completed by Monday,
as well as the removal of vast piles of dirt and chained fences
surrounding the SSPA building, Hartmann said. The gaping cavities
in the ground outside the SSPA building should be filled as
well. SSPA landscaping will not be completed by Monday.
On higher ground,
CSULB and the contractor has an agreement to finish phase
one of the renovation of the Fine Arts buildings by Jan. 12,
2002, Hartmann said. "This includes FA1, FA2, the art
store, the art gallery, landscaping, a fire lane on the west
side of the FA buildings and other surrounding areas,"
he said.
Phase one of the
FA buildings began in February 2000. Construction was interrupted
on Feb.14, 2001, when the already seven months behind contractor,
Dennis J. Amoroso, was believed by CSULB officials to have
violated contract. After ten weeks of working out the allegations,
construction began again on June 25. The renovations will
modify the buildings to bring them up to code to meet the
needs of the art department. The 1960s buildings will also
undergo seismic retrofitting, asbestos removal and safety
code compliance.
The sidewalks by
FA and the new science building will be closed for the entire
semester.
Over on Hardfact Hill, students can expect a "very large
crane" and two to three trucks delivering structural
steel to add to the flow of traffic, Hartmann said. "However,
the green fence will be up for another year and a half."
That green fence,
along the side of orange cones, is there to keep pedestrians
off of East Campus Drive. Apparent with no sidewalk, this
road was designed to be vehicles only. The construction on
Hardfact Hill has steered pedestrians to use East Campus Drive
as a connecting shortcut between upper and lower campus. This
is the most hazardous location on the campus, as students
have ignored warning signs in the past.
"Don't walk
in the road!" Hartmann said with weight. "We have
signs posted - please read them. It only takes an extra minute
to walk inside the campus and down Friendship Walk"
Friendship Walk
is the walkway from the SSPA building to the Administrations
Building. Students can also use the stair ramps and elevator
across from Robekk's Juice and Coffee Bean.
"Students
can walk up the stairs by the bell tower and avoid getting
run down by somebody," Hartmann said.
The three-story
high, 90,000 sq. ft. science building in construction occupying
Hardfact Hill will cost between $25 and $28 million. This
new building is the first phase in a plan to overhaul the
science education facilities at CSULB. The building's design
has already won architect A.C. Martin the Honor Award for
Excellence in Design from the American Institute of Architects.
The construction is slated to end in 2003.
With limited resources,
labor has been hard to find at a moment's notice, which makes
it difficult to catch up on time if the contractor gets behind
on schedule, Hartmann said.
All of the projects
are still behind schedule, with the exception of the SSPA
Building.
An improved overall
campus fire safety system and an enhanced telecommunications
infrastructure are also underway.
"We're doing
everything humanly possible to get this contractor to finish
these last minute details," Charmack said. "We've
had our difficulties. But if the contractors do what they
are supposed to do, there won't be any difference come Monday."
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